EP2084071B1 - Vessel, mainly a bottle, of a thermoplastic material - Google Patents

Abstract

The container (1) has a rigid bottom (2) and a rigid neck (3) connected to a body (4), where the container is made by blowing or stretching-blowing a heated perform. The body has an axial central part (5) surrounded by axial lower and upper parts (6, 7) forming connection zones respectively with the bottom and the neck. The central part is rigid, and the upper and lower parts are elastically deformable and have shape-memory characteristics so that the lower and upper parts recover their initial shape under a hydrostatic pressure of a liquid content.

Description

The subject of the invention is a container, in particular of the bottle type, made of thermoplastic material, obtained by blowing a plastic blank, either by thermal conditioning, then blowing or stretching and blowing preforms previously injected, or by extrusion and then blowing. a parison.

In the case of storage and packaging of liquids, such as water, it is common practice to make thermoplastic containers, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP) or HDPE (polyethylene). high density). However, the price of these thermoplastics, and in particular PET, is constantly growing significantly.

One solution for reducing the production costs of the containers is to reduce as much as possible the amount of thermoplastic material used for their production.

Thus, the current trend is to reduce the weight of the containers, and consequently to reduce the amount of thermoplastic material necessary for the production of a container, that is to say, we start with blanks (preforms or gobs) more and more light.

The document WO 03/033361 has a thin-walled liquid product container deformable of thermoplastic material. However, the body of this container does not include gripping means and this known container is essentially intended to be used lying down as a fountain.

It is also known according to the document EP 1 468 930 to make semi-crystalline PET thin-walled containers with a thickness of less than 0.1 mm having a central portion of narrowed diameter. However, this container can not, once opened, be seized without causing a strong crush may cause spillage of the liquid product contained therein.

Another bottle is also known from EP 1 431 192 .

Thus, the thin-walled containers according to the prior art are not arranged in such a way that they can be correctly grasped without causing crushing of the container body which leads to a spill of the liquid product contained in the container, once the container has been opened.

In addition, the containers according to the prior art are sensitive to shocks or crashes which result in lines whitish folds, scratches or traces that may appear on the walls in case of shocks. These defects are not visually acceptable, because the container could not be put on sale, customers preferentially buying containers without visual defects that containers with a defect. It would therefore be particularly interesting to make a thin-walled container and can suffer shocks on its walls without causing the appearance of marks, scratches or white lines.

The present invention aims to overcome the disadvantages of containers according to the prior art by providing a container for liquid product which, for the same interior volume, requires less thermoplastic material than a conventional container while being able to be entered manually at the of his body without cause crushing of the body that may result in spillage of the liquid product contained in it after unclogging the container and that may also be subject to impacts at its lower and upper parts.

The present invention relates to a container as defined in claim 1.

It is thus obtained a container having flexible lower and upper portions and thus not requiring as much thermoplastic material, with a rigid central portion that can be manually gripped without risk of crushing the container may cause the spill of the liquid product contained in the container, once the container has been opened. It is also obtained lower and upper parts capable of being deformed at the non-rigidified zones by relief, constituting in this case hinge areas, alternated with areas stiffened by relief, which constitute reinforcement areas of the constituent wall of these lower and upper parts.

Advantageously, the axially central portion comprises reinforcement means in the form of at least one annular groove.

In order to reduce the amount of thermoplastic material required for the formation of the container according to the invention, the thickness of the lower and upper parts is substantially less than 0.12 mm, the thermoplastic material being PET.

Still in order to reduce the amount of thermoplastic material forming the container while allowing rigi.dification of the manual gripping area of the container, the thickness of the axially central portion is substantially less than 0.15 mm, the thermoplastic material being PET.

In order to allow automated labeling of the central part of the container for affixing a label and also to allow manual entry of the container, the axially central portion is able to withstand radially a force substantially less than 1.5 daN with a deflection substantially less than 3 mm.

In one embodiment, so as to visually define the container entry zone, the axially central portion has a substantially smaller transverse dimension than the transverse dimension of the axially upper and lower portions. It should be noted, however, that the axially central part, by its position, is naturally considered as user input area.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'une première forme de réalisation d'un récipient selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue partielle en perspective de la partie supérieure d'une seconde forme de réalisation d'un récipient selon l'invention ;
• la figure 3 est une vue partielle en perspective de la partie supérieure d'une troisième forme de réalisation d'un récipient selon l'invention ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective d'une quatrième forme de réalisation d'un récipient selon l'invention ;
• la figure 5 est une vue partielle en perspective d'une cinquième forme de réalisation d'un récipient selon l'invention ;
• la figure 6 est une vue en perspective d'une sixième forme de réalisation d'un récipient selon l'invention.

The present invention is now described by way of purely illustrative and non-limiting examples of the scope of the present invention, from the attached illustrations, in which:

• the figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a container according to the invention;
• the figure 2 is a partial perspective view of the upper part of a second embodiment of a container according to the invention;
• the figure 3 is a partial perspective view of the upper part of a third embodiment of a container according to the invention;
• the figure 4 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of a container according to the invention;
• the figure 5 is a partial perspective view of a fifth embodiment of a container according to the invention;
• the figure 6 is a perspective view of a sixth embodiment of a container according to the invention.

The figure 1 represents a perspective view of a first embodiment of a container 1 according to the invention.

The container 1, in particular of the bottle type, is made of thermoplastic material manufactured by blow molding or stretch-blow molding of a heated preform, this container 1 having a rigid bottom 2 and a rigid neck 3 connected to a body 4.

The body 4 comprises an axially central part 5 surrounded by an axially lower part 6 and an axially upper part 7 forming connection zones respectively with the bottom 2 and the neck 3.

In order to allow gripping without crushing the container, the axially central portion 5 is rigid and the parts 6, 7 axially upper and lower are substantially flexible.

By "soft" zone is meant a zone that deforms more, for the same given pressure, than a "rigid" zone.

The axially central portion 5 comprises reinforcing means 8 in the form of at least one annular groove 9.

The lower and upper parts 6, 7 have zones 10 stiffened by alternating relief with zones 11 not stiffened by relief.

It is understood by areas stiffened by relief areas with both indentations or indentations in the constituent wall of the container 1 as protruding areas or protrusion of this wall.

Due to the alternation of zones 10 stiffened by relief with zones 11 not rigidified by relief, it is obtained a stiffening of all the parts 6, 7 lower and upper, resulting in a deformation shape memory of these two parts 6, 7, more particularly in the presence of a liquid content in the container 1. Thus, in the event of pressure on these parts 6, 7 and lower upper, the zones 11 not rigidified by relief constitute hinge areas relative zones 10 stiffened by relief.

The axially lower and upper portions 6, 7 are elastically deformable with shape memory, so that they resume their initial shape under the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid content or, in other words, in the presence of a content occupying substantially all the internal volume of the container, the hydrostatic pressure equalizes the external pressure. In this way, in the case where the container 1 is closed with a content occupying substantially the entire internal volume of the container and the user grasps the container 1 by one of the parts 6, 7 axially lower and upper, the wall constitutive parts 6, 7 axially lower and upper can not undergo irreversible deformations and there are no cracks, scratches, traces of whitish folds or recesses in the wall.

The axially central portion 5 is able to withstand radially a force substantially less than 1.5 daN with a deflection substantially less than 3 mm. More generally, the axially central portion 5 is set so that it is possible to grip the container 1 by this part 5 without causing crushing of the container 1. The axially central portion 5 thus has sufficient rigidity to allow the user to grasp the container 1 and use it without risking spilling the liquid product out of the internal volume of the container 1. In addition, the central portion 5 must have sufficient rigidity to allow the apposition of a label by a labeller before, to do this, press this central part 5.

Advantageously, the central portion has a transverse dimension substantially less than the transverse dimension of the lower and upper portions 6, 7.

The thickness of the axially central portion 5 is greater than the thickness of the portions 6, 7 axially lower and upper.

In the case where the thermoplastic material used to form the container is PET, the thickness of the lower and upper parts 6, 7 is substantially less than 0.12 mm, and the thickness of the axially central portion 5 is substantially less than 0.15 mm.

According to the different embodiments illustrated in the Figures 1 to 6 , the lower and upper parts 6, 7 are of cylindrical revolution, the lower and upper parts 6, 7 having their maximum diameter greater than or equal to the diameter of the axially central portion.

According to the first embodiment illustrated on the figure 1 , the height of the lower portion 6 is substantially equal to the height of the upper portion 7. Nevertheless, it is also possible to provide that the height of the lower part 6 is smaller than the height of the upper part 7 (see figure 4 ) or that the height of the lower part 6 is greater than the height of the upper part 7 (see figure 6 ).

According to the embodiments illustrated in the figures 1 , 2 and 6 the zones 10 stiffened by relief are in the form of grooves.

More specifically, according to the first embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. figure 1 each area 10 stiffened by relief is in the form of a star 12 with a central point 13 which radiates a plurality of branches 14.

The zones 11 not rigidified by relief are, in turn, in the form of a smooth wall.

According to one embodiment, the zones 10 stiffened by relief are in the form of a plurality of grains, articulated together by zones 11 not rigidified by relief. Thus, the constituent wall of the lower and upper walls 6, 7 has the general shape of a granular textured wall.

According to the second embodiment illustrated in figure 2 , the zones 10 stiffened by relief are in the form of vertical grooves connected together by grooves 16 inclined, so as to forming zones 11 not rigidified by relief of substantially trapezoidal shape.

According to the third embodiment illustrated in figure 3 each area 10 stiffened by relief is in the form of an elliptical footprint 17. The elliptical impressions 17 have large axes and small axes of different dimensions, so as to cover substantially the entire area of the parts 6, 7 and lower upper. Alternatively, the zones 10 stiffened by relief are circular impressions of diameters and different depths.

According to the fourth embodiment illustrated in figure 4 , the zones 10 stiffened by relief are in the form of imprints 18 regularly distributed over the lower and upper parts 6, 7, defining a plurality of rows and columns of footprints 18 regularly spaced and aligned.

Alternatively to the fourth embodiment illustrated in FIG. figure 4 two columns of immediately adjacent fingerprints 18 are offset vertically from one another, so that the respective fingerprints 18 of the two columns are not facing each other on the same line substantially horizontal.

Each area 10 stiffened by relief may be in the form of a pyramidal pattern. Nevertheless, it is possible to provide any type and shape of footprint 18 in the lower and upper parts 6, 7.

According to the fifth embodiment illustrated in figure 5 each zone 10 stiffened by relief is presented in the form of a plurality of concentric circular projections 19.

According to the sixth embodiment of the container according to the invention illustrated in FIG. figure 6 each of the lower and upper portions 6, 7 has relief-stiffened zones 10 in the form of at least one cylindrical groove 20 of substantially sinusoidal shape and at least one substantially vertical groove 21, 22, pointing towards, or a vertex, being a bottom, of said at least one cylindrical groove of substantially sinusoidal shape.

It can thus be provided vertical grooves 22 on the lower part 6 and starting from the bottom 2 of the container 1.

Alternatively, the relief-stiffened zones 10 may comprise branched grooves, corrugated grooves with a substantially axial orientation, intersecting grooves or at least two parallel grooves traversed by inclined grooves, so that the non-relief-stiffened zones define triangular areas.

According to the preferred embodiment, the container 1 according to the invention is closed by a snap-on cap 23 commonly called "snap on".

Claims (6)

1. Container (1), in particular a bottle, made of a thermoplastic material produced by blow moulding or stretch-blow moulding a heated preform, which container has a base (2) and a neck (3) connected to a body (4), in which the neck (3) and the base (2) are rigid and the body (4) includes an axially central portion (5) flanked by an axially lower portion (6) and by an axially upper portion (7) forming bonding zones respectively with the base (2) and the neck (3), the axially upper and lower portions (6, 7) being cylindrical of revolution; and said lower and upper portions (6, 7) have zones (10) rigidified by relief alternating with zones (11) not rigidified by relief so that the zones (11) not rigidified by relief form zones of pivoting with respect to the zones (10) rigidified by relief;
   characterized in that the axially central portion (5) is rigid and comprises for that purpose a thickness which is greater than the thickness of the axially upper and lower portions (6, 7),
   in that the axially central portion (5) constitutes a gripping zone and extends over a height of the container which is sufficient to allow a manual gripping of said container,
   in that the axially upper and lower portions (6, 7) are deformable with shape memory, so that, when the container is closed with a liquid content occupying substantially the whole of the internal volume of the container, said axially upper and lower portions, being deformable under an internal pressure return to their initial shape under the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid content without undergoing irreversible deformations, and
   in that said relief is regularly distributed over the lower and the upper portions (6,7).
2. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that said axially central portion (5) includes reinforcement means (8) in the form of at least one annular groove (9).
3. Container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the thermoplastic material is PET and in that the thickness of said lower and upper portions (6, 7) is substantially less than 0.12 mm.
4. Container according to any one of the previous claims, characterized in that the thermoplastic material is PET and in that the thickness of said axially central portion (5) is substantially less than 0.15 mm.
5. Container according to any one of the previous claims, characterized in that the axially central portion (5) is adapted for radially resisting a force substantially less 1.5 daN with a deflection substantially less 3 mm.
6. Container according to any one of the previous claims, characterized in that the axially central portion (5) has a transverse dimension substantially lower than the transverse dimension of the axially upper and lower portions (6, 7).

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