JPS59182721A - Manufacture of vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing containers, and more particularly includes a method of manufacturing plastic containers from strip components.

Conventional methods of manufacturing containers include forming metal, glass, or composite paper materials into containers; conventional techniques include forming plastics into containers.

The present invention relates to the technical field related to plastics, and more particularly to polymers such as polyesters and polyolefins. Containers made with the methods disclosed herein are substitutes for those made by conventional plastic molding techniques, as well as for glass, metal, and paper.

In the manufacture of conventional plastic bottles, the bottles can be manufactured by one of several methods. One such method is to form a preform or parison by injection molding molten plastic material into a parison mold and allowing it to solidify. The parison is then placed into a blow molding device that uses a combination of thermal, pneumatic and mechanical stretching means to expand it into the final bottle. Generally, these two or three steps are very long and expensive due to the time and equipment required for their production as well as the large amount of energy input into the polymer. The melting and subsequent cooling of the polymer from which the parison is injection molded, as well as the preheating necessary for blow molding, requires a large amount of heat.

Another method of manufacturing plastic containers is direct injection, where the final bottle shape is manufactured in a single mold and the final bottle is manufactured by injecting liquid molten polymer directly into the mold. It is a molding method. Although this method eliminates the need for double heat in the parison process, it has the disadvantage that polymer orientation is not obtained and the resulting bottle is structurally very weak. Also, because the polymer lacks orientation, the barrier to oxygen ingress and CO2 outflow is very low.

A third alternative method of manufacturing thermoplastic containers is to extrude a tubular parison, which, while still in the molten state, is sealed in a mold and blow-molded into the final bottle. That's true.

This has the disadvantage that little orientation is achieved in the bottle and it has a weak area at the bottom where the seam is created during the blow molding process.

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing thermoplastic bottles and other containers by providing a method in which separate components are each formed in the most economical manner and each obtains the maximum advantage of its thermoforming process. This method overcomes the drawbacks of conventional methods. The components are then joined by rotary welding into a single strong esthetic container. In one method of the invention, the container is thermoformed with a top portion having a threaded neck region and a cylindrical wall base;
nesting characteristics
tics) and extruding a cylindrical body portion to which the top and bottom portions are rotationally fused.

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view of a container made according to the invention.

2 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the upper portion of the container of FIG. 1; FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the bottom portion of the container.

4 is an enlarged side view of the drive projection ring of the upper portion of FIG. 2; FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of the bottom of the container stacked on top of the container.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the cylindrical body portion.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a container in the form of a bottle 1o1 is shown in a partially sectional side view. Bin 101 includes a generally cylindrical central portion 102 shaped in the shape of a cylindrical tube, to which are joined an upper bin or top portion 103 and a lower closure or bottom portion 104.

The upper portion 103 includes a generally slightly tapered, generally cylindrical base portion 105, an inwardly necked shoulder portion 106,
and a cylindrical neck portion 107 with a threaded top and a spiral thread for the stopper. A dual purpose ring 109 is formed around the neck portion 107 and projects radially outwardly therefrom. The purpose of ring 109 is to provide a filling ring to keep the bottle suspended from the filling machine while filling the bottle.

Ring 109 also includes a circumferential drive projection formed therein for attaching the upper portion to the rotary weld center rod.

Central section 101 is a generally cylindrical tube section, preferably formed by extrusion or coextrusion into its final shape. This cylindrical section is cut to length by means such as a thermal knife or water laser to create a bottle of the desired capacity. The specific example illustrated in FIG.
Although the wall portion 102 is shown made of a single layer of polymeric plastic, in one embodiment of the invention, the cylindrical body portion 102 is formed into a multilayer cylindrical body through a cylindrical coextrusion die. The portion 102 is formed by coextrusion. Preferably, the layers of polymer used are 3 or 5 layers, with inner and outer layers of FPA approved polymers and materials known to prevent the ingress of oxygen through the container wall and the dissipation of carbon dioxide from the container. barrier polymer such as ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVAL). Additionally, there may be further layers between the barrier layer and the outer and inner layers, the material such as CXA being an adhesive that bonds the polymer to the barrier layer. This CXA is Dupont che-mical
This is an adhesive manufactured by CO.

The base 104 comprises a generally circular, tire flam-shaped seal having a relatively flexible central portion 11o1 tire flam row 111 and an upwardly facing U-shaped rotating weld flange 112 around the circumference.

It should also be mentioned that the upper part 105 has a downwardly facing U-shaped rotary weld flange 113 similar to the upwardly facing flange 112 of the bottom rest 104 . The U-shaped flanges 112 and 113 are dimensioned such that the cylindrical body portion of the container fits tightly therein. Preferably, the flange areas 112 and 113 are arranged in an interference fit with the cylindrical body portion 102 of the container. This will provide the heat of fusion when joining the three container sections together by rotary welding. As previously mentioned, container 101 is made from a polymer selected from one of polyester or polyolefin. More specifically, in one embodiment, container 101 is fabricated from the polymer polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This polymer is exempted from food products by the FDA and is particularly advantageous for containers due to its transparency, strength, and barrier properties.

PET is also particularly suitable for strengthening by stretching the polymer and orienting its structure at an orientation temperature. The central body portion 101 is preferably molded from a solid PET material, or may consist of a coextruded multilayer tube formed with a circular coextrusion die. In one preferred embodiment, five layers of polymer can be coextruded into a cylindrical tube. The outer layer is PET, then a layer of adhesive, then a barrier material such as Saran, Barrex (3a
rex) or EVAL layers are used. These materials are assigned to the assignee of this invention on February 10, 1981.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,875 by Hart and Rutledge, PA Co-extrus 1o
nApl) aratus and Method f
irPrOduCingfvlulti-L ay
ered Thermoplastic Pip
Spiterreslo gold disclosed in ``e'' (5pid
coextrusion into one multilayer cylindrical tube at the same time. The patents mentioned above are hereby incorporated by reference into this patent application.

Referring to FIG. 4, Bin 1 taken along line 4-4 of FIG.
An axial cross-sectional view of the upper portion of 01 is illustrated to disclose the structure of the corrugated fillrino 109 in more detail. In FIG. 4, the neck portion 10
7 is shown in cross section with the circumferential filling ring 109 fully engaged. Filling ring 109 projects outwardly from the surface of 107 a substantial distance. A set of symmetrical rotary weld projections 114 are molded around the outer circumference of ring 109 and project radially outwardly therefrom. Projection part 1
14 is particularly suitable for cooperating with the center rod of the rotary weld to apply a rotational movement to the upper part 105.

Slots 116 are cut in the wall of flange 112 and the lower edge of wall 102. This notch is used on the bottom of the container as a location slot for printing a label on the container, and when the container is to be subjected to secondary packaging, i.e. "6-person packaging", the preferred area of the label faces outward. It has been cut to ensure that it is positioned in the direction you want it to be. This means that for those who deliver packages and sell them under that trade name,
This is a very important sales perspective. For example, soft drink manufacturers are very interested in having each container in a package with most of its trade name or symbol facing outward. That is, when a package is placed in a supermarket, consumers are interested in seeing the eye-catching features of the label. Therefore, the notch 116 at the bottom edge of the container is useful when the filled container is packaged in a standard six-person package, and the notch orients the container so that the eye-catching part of the symbol faces the outside of the package. Enables the filler to apply a label so that it can be used for placement.

Alternatively, the upper portion 103, rather than the indentation 116 in the lower skirt 112, may be provided with position indicating means, such as a protrusion or a protruding knob. The protrusion may also be attached inside the groove 111 of the bottom 104, which is not visible from the side or top of the container 101. This particular embodiment of position indicating means 116 is the preferred method in the context of secondary packaging. slot 11
6 utilizes this slot and allows the protruding portion to easily orient the bottle in secondary packaging which can orient the bottle in retail display.

A position indicating arm in slot 116 can also provide additional support to the container during packaging.

FIG. 2 illustrates the top portions 105 of the three container portions prior to being fused to the central body portion 102.

This figure shows the nestal i of the upper part 105.
1-ity). In FIG. 2, the second upper portion 105 is drawn in phantom lines to indicate the telescoping of the upper portions with respect to each other. This is particularly important for large scale container manufacturing. Many containers are manufactured in one place;
Must be transported to another location for filling. 11
In the case of conventional PET bottles of size 1 and 21, these are generally molded in one piece and transported empty to their final filling point.

A truck or wagon, normally loaded with as many single bottles as possible, transports only about 1/20 of its normal transport weight, although its entire transport capacity is filled with empty containers. It will be.

Therefore, the transport client mainly pays for air transport. Utilizing the present invention, the transport client can transport the components in bins as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, greatly increasing transport efficiency. FIG. 3 illustrates the telescoping properties of the bottom portion 104 by showing the bottom portion 104 in partial cross-section and illustrating the additional bottom portion 104 in a telescoping position by phantom lines.

In FIG. 2, one can see the savings in transportation space achieved by utilizing the present invention. Display of temporary lines 105
If one considers the distance that the upper part projects outward from the solid line representation 105, it can be seen that this upper part occupies only about 1/3 of the additional space of the original space occupied by the upper part. The bottle manufacturer can therefore transport multiple top sections 105 nested within each other, saving about two-thirds of the typical shipping space. Similarly, the bottom portion 104 can be stowed for further space savings.

In addition to the insertability of the top and bottom sections, the use of a coextruded cylinder for the center portion of the container allows bottle manufacturers and fillers to manufacture the center section 102 at the filling point and
This makes it possible to save on shipping costs for cylindrical tubes. That is, for the central part, the transporter only transports polymer pellets, which can be easily converted into cylindrical tubes by cylindrical extrusion at the filling point, which is very efficient as far as space occupancy is concerned. I'm sure you will.

The container tethering of the present invention thus offers the tremendous advantage of greatly reducing shipping costs for empty containers and improving the strength and other properties of the final container resulting from rotary welding.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a three-piece container bottom portion 104. In FIG. 5, bottom portion 204 has a circumferential U-shaped rotary weld flange 212 molded around it.
and a flexible portion 211 located inward from the flange 212
It is molded with

The center portion 210 is similar to the top neck portion 107 of the other bin.
A cylindrical splinter-proof bone suitable for receiving comprises a location 210. Neck portion 107 has a spout 115 screwed thereon. The lower shoulder portion 213 of the receiver location 210 is sized to fit the fill ring 109 of the bottle located below its pin, which the bottom 204 abuts. Therefore, the location 210 of the receiver molded on the bottom 204 is
To allow filled containers to be stacked on storage shelves or showroom shelves in an orientation that is stable and attractive for product display. One drawback of conventional containers, such as crow pin and parison type plastic bins, is that the containers are very unstable and cannot be stacked without placing stacking sheets between each tier of containers. Thus, if a retailer, such as the owners of Super Matsukerat, wishes to display multiple stacks of products, they must place costly and time-consuming stacking sheets between each stack of containers.

At the bottom of each container, a cylindrical bottle receptacle utilizes location 210. In the case of the present invention, the neck portion 107, including the spout 115, can protrude upwardly from the bottom of the filled container. The weight of the container is supported by the heavy and strong filling ring 109 of the container directly below it. The described application method is suitable for the present invention for the production of cans rather than pins.

Although the top portion 103 and bottom portions 104 and 204 may be formed by conventional methods, such as injection molding, it should be understood that new means may be available for forming these portions. For example, Granville J dated July 1, 1982, assigned to the assignee of the present patent application.
, Related Patent Application No. 394382 by Hat)n et al., “A pparatus ForForming
3Axially Qiented The
Disclosed is an apparatus for thermoforming IJ articles. are particularly advantageous for use in the present invention on the basis of

In the Hahn et al. patent application, a single sheet or multilayer sheet polymer is heated to a temperature above the orientation temperature, and moderate pressure air is applied to the sheet material to force it into the shape of a preform. , manufacture parisons.

A certain amount of cooling occurs during preforming to reduce the temperature of the polymer to its orientation range. At this point, high pressure air pulses are passed through the preform mold to force the sheet into its final shape in the final mold. The final product is then shaped and the product is stretched to the optimum amount to obtain biaxial orientation. l
Using the -1ahn apparatus, the top and bottom of the container of the invention are well oriented for optimal strength and barrier properties. Also using Hahn's device,
Additional strength can be obtained through orientation, which, unlike conventional injection molding techniques, cannot be achieved with injection molding systems. Also, using coextruded sheet material, PE
It is also possible to obtain multilayer tops and bottoms containing a barrier layer polymer sandwiched between two layers of conventional container polymers such as T.

Hahn et al., patent application Ser. No. 394,382, mentioned hereinabove, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In a typical operation, a soft drink or other type of container is formed utilizing the three sections disclosed in FIGS. 2-5. More particularly, the upper part, formed by injection molding or by in-phase pressing (thermoforming) and having a downwardly shaped rotary welding flange 113, is placed in the rotary welding mandrel, by means such as extrusion or blow molding. A cylindrical wall section shaped by is placed in the center mandrel of the rotary welder and a bottom portion 104 or 204 having a shaped rotary weld flange 112 upwardly is placed in the rotary welder mandrel below.

Preferably, the central rotating fusion mandrel, including the central body portion, is a stationary mandrel, and the upper and lower mandrels are adapted for rotational operation. After the three container sections are positioned on their respective mandrels, rotational energy is applied to the upper and lower mandrels to cause them to rapidly rotate about the central mandrel. While the upper and lower mandrels can rotate in the same direction, they can rotate in opposite directions to offset each other's I-lux. After reaching a predetermined rotational speed, which is selected depending on the polymer used and the amount of interference joints in the rotary fusion flanges 112 and 113, the top and bottom sections are quickly brought closer to the center section. The wall is forced into the U-shaped flange, where the plastic is temporarily melted.
fuse with each other.

This provides a tight, clean, airtight joint in flanges 112 and 113, and a strong joint is formed.

Not only does the ring strength provided by the rotationally fused joint of 112 and 113 contribute significantly to the overall strength of the container, but the radially outwardly projecting shoulders originating from the flanges 112 and 113 also contribute significantly to the overall strength of the container. Provide a protected label area. Generally, these prominent shoulders at 112 and 113 may be referred to as "swivel links." label,
For example, when applying an adhesive-backed label or a printed label directly to the area 102 against the central body portion 101, the rings 112 and 113 are in ring-like contact with adjacent bottles;
This prevents the printed labels on the area 102 from sliding against each other. This provides label protection, which is of fundamental importance to retailers.

Advantages of the present invention therefore include better stowability in transporting container parts prior to assembly of the container. The advantage of trays is that filled containers can be piled up at retail locations.

A third advantage is the increased ring-based strength provided by the rotationally fused joints of the container walls, and the additional advantage is the protruding rotational ring that provides protection for the decorative label on the container.

Another particular advantage of the present invention is that the various components can be manufactured in different ways to optimize the properties of each component. For example, the top and bottom can be described as being manufactured using different techniques to provide optimal strength and barrier properties, and the center portion can be manufactured using different techniques to provide improved orientation and barrier properties, resulting in additional qualities in the final container. can also be achieved. For example, rotating welds at the top and bottom of the tubular center section increase the strength of the ring for the entire container as well as provide a pair of parallel rotating rings to protect any labels applied to the center section. Additionally, the long center portion provides maximum advertising labeling surface area for the food or soft drink manufacturer filling the container. This is known as "advertisement space optimization" on the container. The present invention provides more advertising space for the label than any known conventional bottle container used to package soft drinks.

In addition to optimal advertising space, the present invention provides scope for modifying the outer surface of the container for printed and/or painted labels. For example, when forming the center tube section 102 by coextrusion, one of the layers of the coextruded cylinder, the outermost layer, may be made of a white, opaque, single-filament material, such as polystyrene, high impact polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, or It can be made from polypropylene, which provides a highly desirable surface for printing bright vibrant label colors using conventional label printing methods.

The top portion 103 of the bottle may be made from a transparent, strong material such as PET that is attractive to the consumer and clearly indicates the contents of the bottle. Similarly, the bottom portion 104 can be selected from the most suitable material to provide the characteristics desired by the container filler. Relatively low cost materials such as polystyrene or high impact polystyrene can be used in the bottom part 1 to maintain the cost of the final container.
May be used on 04. All these material alternatives of course depend primarily on the suitability of the rotary welding of the various parts. For example, the contact surfaces at the outer flanges of the top 103 and bottom 104 must be suitable for rotational welding with the outer and inner surfaces of the cylindrical wall section 1.1. Materials compatible with rotary welding are known to those skilled in the art and therefore alternatives can be readily made.

Although the above description relates to the manufacture of bottles according to the method of the present invention, the technology disclosed herein is useful in the soft drink and food industries.
Sewing can also be used to produce what is called J. V 1ncent filed concurrently with this specification and assigned to the assignee of this specification.
E. Fortuna Related Patent Application No. “C
Iosures for Containers hl
This can be achieved by replacing the top portion 103 with a plastic lid such as that disclosed in ``AVing P 1astic Tops''.
E. Fortuna patent application is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this patent application.

Thus, referring to the drawings of the cited FORTUNA patent application, the lids illustrated in 101.201.301 and 401 are all particularly advantageous for use as soft drink can lids. More particularly, these closures are highly desirable for use in the three-piece soft drink containers disclosed herein to form a single can. One of the above-mentioned top caps can be rotary fused to the cylindrical tube of the present invention in place of the disclosed top portion 103. The method of gluing the l:ortuna can lid is substantially the same as the method of gluing the bottle portion 103, ie, the can lid is rotary fused to the cylindrical body portion 102. The fortuna can lids mentioned above all offer the advantage of a circumferential U-shaped rotary weld flange on the outside and are compatible with the rotary weld technique for the present invention. It is therefore clear that the closures disclosed in the cited patent applications are suitable for the present invention when manufacturing cans rather than bottles.

Although particularly preferred specific examples of the present invention have been described in detail above,
It is intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive, and the description is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms or embodiments disclosed herein, nor is it intended that the invention be so limited. It will be obvious to those in the industry that this is not the case. That is, the present defense is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the particular examples of the invention disclosed herein for illustrative purposes that do not constitute a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view of a container made according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the top portion of the container of FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is an enlarged bottom portion of the container. 4 is an enlarged side view of the drive projecting link of the top portion of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of the bottom of the container stacked on top of the container; FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the cylindrical body portion. Patent applicant Cosden Technology Inc. Clearance of drawings (no change in content) FIG, 1 Procedural amendment (Bandai) J1 Tenan 59-108 No. 2, Name of Invention 8, Relationship with Case of Person Who Amended J7 Act 3 Patent Applicant 4th Agent Agent Address: 107

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An upper part having a sealing means and a cylindrical wall part, from a thermoplastic material, in the manufacture of a container for packaging liquid products with a barrier to gas permeation through the container wall. molding the cylindrical body portion from a laminated thermoplastic material having at least one layer of strong plastic adhered to at least one layer of barrier plastic; molding the bottom of the circular container from the thermoplastic material; A method of manufacturing the container, comprising: forming; the top portion, the body portion, and the bottom being of a material compatible with rotational welding; and rotationally welding the top portion and the bottom to the body portion. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the top portion and the bottom portion is thermoformed by in-phase pressing. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the top portion and the bottom portion is formed by injection molding. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the body portion is coextruded by multilayer tube coextrusion having at least two layers joined together. 5. coextruding the body portion from a cylindrical coextrusion die in at least three layers, provided that the three layers are inner and outer layers of structurally strong thermoplastic material and bonded between the inner and outer layers; 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising a central layer comprising a thermoplastic material exhibiting low gas permeability. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the top and bottom portions are made from a thermoplastic material selected from the group consisting of PET, PETG, polypropylene, polyethylene, Pvc and polystyrene. 7, said central 1i1EVAL, PVDC1+j>and'C
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the method is selected from the group comprising f-valex. 8. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of orienting the central portion by stretching it while heating it to the orientation temperature of the thermoplastic material prior to rotary fusing. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the container is a bottle, and the top portion includes a threaded neck portion and a larger cylindrical wall portion; 10. The container has a tear-opening knob. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the can has a relatively flat circular top portion sealed with a dowel. 11. Injection molding the upper portion from a thermoplastic polymer, provided that the upper portion has a threaded neck portion and a cylindrical base portion; extruding a cylindrical tube portion of thermoplastic; cut to predetermined length; form a circular bottom section with flanges suitable for rotation welding to the tube section; and rotation weld the top and bottom sections to the tube section. A method of manufacturing a plastic soft drink bottle, comprising: manufacturing a soft drink bottle. 12. The top portion is molded with a downwardly facing U-shaped rotary fusion flange, and the bottom portion flange is an upwardly facing U-shaped flange. Method. 13. The extrusion step further includes forming the cylindrical tube portion into a first
and a central layer of a second thermoplastic material between the first and second layers. the method of. 14. The extrusion step further comprises forming the cylindrical tube section into a first
coextruding with five layers comprising inner and outer layers of thermoplastic material, a central layer of a second thermoplastic material, and an adhesive layer between the central layer and each of the inner and outer layers. 13. The method of claim 12, comprising: 15. providing a laminated thermoplastic polymer sheet having an outer layer of a structurally strong polymer and an inner layer of a low gas permeability polymer; molding a container top and a container bottom from the sheet; Coextrude a cylindrical tube having inner and outer layers made of a polymer compatible with the top and bottom structurally strong polymers, with the exception that the middle layer between the inner and outer layers is comprising a low gas permeability polymer; cutting the coextruded tube to predetermined lengths; and rotary fusing the top and bottom to the tube to produce a complete container. A method of manufacturing a thermoplastic container comprising a barrier comprising: 16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the step of molding the laminated sheet by multilayer sheet coextrusion. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one of the top and bottom portions is solid state pressed in its orientation fffi to increase its strength and barrier properties. 18. The method of claim 15, comprising the further step of stretching the cylindrical tube at the tube polymer orientation temperature to increase its strength and barrier properties. 19. The method of claim 15, wherein the outer layer of the tube comprises a polymer having low cost, high transparency, and good printability. 20, the polymer is polystyrene, high impact polystyrene,
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the material is selected from the group comprising polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride.