WO2008061594A1

WO2008061594A1 - Plastic bottle and similar containers made of plastic

Info

Publication number: WO2008061594A1
Application number: PCT/EP2007/008926
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christian Dornbach
Original assignee: Alpla Werke Alwin Lehner Gmbh & Co. Kg
Priority date: 2006-11-23
Filing date: 2007-10-15
Publication date: 2008-05-29
Also published as: EP2091824A1; EP2091824B1; ES2382580T3; RU2009123842A; RU2457915C2; MX2009005436A; ATE545594T1; US20100084360A1; BRPI0717222B1; BRPI0717222A2

Abstract

A plastic bottle (1) and similar containers for receiving fluid substances have an elongated body (2), wherein the one longitudinal end is closed by a bottom (3) and the opposite end transitions into a neck section (4) having a pouring spout (5). A shoulder section (6) extends from the neck section (4) to a region (7) of the body (2), wherein the region has a larger diameter. The shoulder section (6) is equipped with structured regions (10) at least in a portion of the axial and circumferential extensions thereof.

Description

Plastic bottle and the like container made of plastic

The invention relates to a plastic bottle and the like plastic container according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

The usual in the past containers made of white or stained, glass or ceramic are increasingly being replaced by plastic containers. In particular, for the packaging of pourable media, such as cleaning utensils, personal care products, cosmetics, automotive media, etc., mainly plastic containers are used. The low weight and the lower costs certainly play a significant role in this substitution. The use of recyclable plastic materials and the overall more favorable overall energy balance in their production also contribute to the consumer's acceptance of plastic containers, in particular of plastic bottles.

A very common type of plastic bottles is usually made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These plastic bottles are usually produced in a so-called injection stretch blow molding process, which represents a combination of injection molding and blow molding. Initially, a PET preform is produced in an injection molding process in an injection mold. Lately, flow molding processes for the production of preforms have also been proposed. The preform has a substantially elongated, cylindrical body and is formed closed at one longitudinal end. A support ring separates the body from a neck portion with a pouring spout. The neck portion usually already has the later shape of the bottle neck. On the outside of the neck portion threaded portions or the like are already formed for the determination of a closure part. The preform is demoulded after its production and immediately further processed or stored for later processing on a blow molding machine. Before further processing in a blow molding machine, the preform is conditioned if necessary; then it is introduced into a blow mold of a blow molding machine. In the blow mold, the preform Finally, inflated by a gas injected with excess pressure according to the mold cavity and additionally stretched with a stretching mandrel. An injection blow molding process is also already known, in which the blowing process takes place directly after the injection of the preform. The preform remains on the injection core, which at the same time forms the stretching mandrel. Also in this method, the preform is in turn inflated by overpressure according to the mold cavity of a blow mold, which is delivered to the injection core or vice versa, and thereby stretched by the stretching mandrel. Thereafter, the finished plastic bottle is removed from the mold.

Single-layer or multi-layer plastic bottles and containers are often produced in what is known as extrusion blow molding, in particular a tubular blowing process. The extrusion blow molding machines used for the extrusion blow molding process usually have one or more extruders for feeding the required plastic material. The outlet of the extruder is connected to an extruder head, at the outlet of which the extruded tube preferably exits in the opening width of the adjustable outlet nozzle. The extruded plastic tube can be constructed in one or more layers. The hose exiting the outlet nozzle continuously or quasi-continuously is transferred to a blow mold and inflated by overpressure with the aid of a blow mandrel inserted into the mold cavity. Thereafter, the inflated plastic bottle is removed from the mold cavity.

Plastic bottles and similar plastic containers are produced in very high numbers and are therefore constantly the subject of optimizations in order to save costs. For cost reasons, but also for ecological reasons, therefore, also attempts to save material. On the other hand, on the other hand, always the required stiffness of the plastic bottles must be considered. This sets limits, especially for plastic bottles with a filling volume of 50 ml to 300 ml, to the efforts of technicians and designers.

Object of the present invention is therefore to provide a plastic bottle having the required rigidity. Here, the required stiffness without be achieved additional use of materials. The existing manufacturing processes should not have to be changed.

The solution to this problem consists in a plastic bottle and the like container made of plastic, which has the stated in the characterizing portion of claim 1 features. Further developments and / or advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

A plastic bottle and the like container for receiving fluid substances has an elongated body, one side of which is closed by a base and the opposite side of which merges into a neck portion with a pouring opening. A shoulder portion extends from the neck portion to a larger diameter portion of the body. At least in a part of its axial and in the circumferential direction extending extension of the shoulder portion is provided with structuring.

The structures in the shoulder portion of the plastic bottle give the bottle the desired rigidity. Even with further optimization by material savings in the shoulder section, the plastic bottle provided with the structuring has at least the same rigidity as a comparable plastic bottle with a greater wall thickness. If the wall thickness remains the same, the rigidity is increased. As a result, the plastic bottle is more stable in storage, and it can also be used for filling systems at elevated temperatures.

Preferably, the structurings are arranged uniformly along the circumferential extension of the shoulder section and are formed as repetitive, geometrically arranged basic structures arranged in a ring. The repetitive, annularly arranged geometric basic structures are easy to create and lead directly to an increased rigidity of the structured areas. The repeated over the circumference of the shoulder portion geometric basic structures lead to a uniform over the circumference gain of the wall area. It proves to be additionally advantageous if two or more rings of geometric basic structures are arranged in the shoulder portion, which are separated from one another by transverse grooves. This makes it possible to adapt the geometric basic structures provided in the shoulder section to the contour of the plastic bottle and to design it according to this contour.

The below-mentioned advantageous embodiments lead alone or in combination with each other to further improvements in the stiffness behavior of the plastic bottle:

A variant of the plastic bottle provides that the geometric structures are separated from one another by grooves extending essentially in the longitudinal direction of the body.

The longitudinally extending grooves may be arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis or may include an angle of up to 45 ° with the longitudinal axis of the body. The geometric basic structures can thus have longitudinal sides which run or are tilted in a projection parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body.

Good stiffness ratios arise when the transverse and / or longitudinal grooves have a depth of about 0.5 mm to about 1.5 mm. The transverse grooves and the longitudinal grooves may also have different depths from each other.

The rigidity is further increased by the fact that the transverse and / or longitudinal grooves have a groove bottom whose width measured perpendicular to the groove profile is approximately 0.2 mm to approximately 1.2 mm.

An expedient variant of the plastic bottle provides that the walls of the transverse and / or longitudinal grooves enclose with one another an opening angle which is approximately 50 ° to approximately 100 °. The enclosed by the walls of the transverse grooves and the longitudinal grooves angle can be different from each other. It proves to be advantageous for the achievable stiffness of the plastic bottle in the shoulder portion, when the structurally arranged structuring 9 to 15, preferably 10 to 14, geometric basic structures which are arranged uniformly over the circumference.

A very expedient embodiment variant of the invention provides that two or more rings of geometric basic structures are arranged in the shoulder portion. Each ring has the same number of geometric basic structures, which expediently each o.a. Numbers of basic structures and are separated by longitudinal grooves, which extend over adjacent ring structures. The basic structures of adjacent rings need not be identical, but may be different from each other according to the portion of the shoulder portion, for example to account for different Krümm- radius of curvature or different diameters.

For geometric basic structures, rectangular to trapezoidal shapes prove to be appropriate. The trapezoidal basic structures are advantageously arranged in the neck closer portion of the shoulder portion.

The basic structures have a height which is 1 to 1.5 times the width of the basic structure. This results in advantageous strengths and at the same time the contour of the plastic bottle can be included in the shaping.

The inventive design of the plastic bottle with structuring in the shoulder section proves to be particularly useful in plastic bottles with a filling volume of 50 ml to 330 ml.

The structuring in the shoulder portion of the plastic bottle can be applied to plastic bottles made in a stretch blow or extrusion blow process. In this case, the structuring is produced during the blowing process within the mold cavity of a blow mold. This is done simply by a speaking interpretation of the walls of the mold cavity. The preforms used in the stretch blow molding process remain unchanged. Similarly, the extrusion process in the extrusion blow molding process remains unchanged or no changes to the extrusion die are required.

Further advantages and features will become apparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention with reference to the schematic drawings. It shows in not to scale representation:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an inventive design

Plastic bottle;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the plastic bottle of Fig. 1;

3 shows an axial section of the plastic bottle; and

4 shows a detail according to arrow IV in FIG. 3.

In the figures, like elements bear the same reference numerals.

A plastic bottle formed according to the invention is provided with the reference number 1 in its entirety in FIGS. 1-3. For example, it is a plastic bottle with a filling volume of 125 ml. The plastic bottle 1 has an elongated, rotationally symmetrical body 2, one longitudinal end of which is closed by a bottom 3. At the opposite end of the body goes into a neck portion 4, which has a pouring opening 5. On the outside of the neck portion 4 threaded portions are formed, which allow the screwing of a closure. A shoulder portion 6 extends from the neck portion 4 to a larger diameter portion 7 of the body 2. The larger diameter portion 7, however, need not necessarily be the largest diameter portion of the body 2 of the plastic bottle 1. Such plastic see are usually produced in a stretch blow molding process. But they can also be produced in an extrusion blown process.

The shoulder portion 6 of the body 2 is provided with structurings 10 over its axial extension and its circumference. In the illustrated embodiment of the plastic bottle, the structuring of two rings 11, 12 of geometric basic structures 13, 14, which are arranged uniformly along the circumference of the shoulder portion 6. The two rings 11, 12 of basic structures 13, 14 are separated by a transverse groove 15. Another transverse groove 15 forms the end of the shoulder portion 6 to the larger diameter portion 7 of the body 2. The geometric basic structures 13, 14 are substantially rectangular or trapezoidal and separated by longitudinally extending grooves 16. In the illustrated embodiment, the longitudinal grooves 16 extend in a side projection parallel to the longitudinal axis of the plastic bottle 1. In an embodiment not shown in detail, the longitudinally extending grooves with respect to the longitudinal axis can also be inclined up to an angle of 45 °.

The geometric basic structures 13, 14 have an axial height which is approximately one to one and a half times their width. It is understood that under the height and the width of the unwound mass are to be understood. From Figs. 1 and 2 it can be seen that the neck portion 4 closer basic structures 13 have a substantially trapezoidal shape with a greater height than width. The trapezoidal basic structures 13 directly adjoin the neck section 4. The second ring 12 of basic structures consists of approximately square basic structures 14. The number of basic structures 13, 14 is the same in the two rings 11, 12 and is typically about 9 to 15, preferably 10 to 14.

FIG. 4 shows, on a larger scale, the section of the bottle wall with a transverse groove 15 which is indicated by the arrow IV in FIG. 3. The transverse groove 15 is bounded by walls 18, 19 which typically have an opening angle α of 50 ° -100 ° lock in. In the illustrated section IV of the opening angle α is about 90 °. The two walls 18, 19 connect to a groove bottom 17, whose Width measured transverse to the extension of the groove is about 0.2 mm to about 1.2 mm. The groove 15 has a depth T of about 0.5 to 1.5 mm. The dimensions of the grooves have been explained using the example of a transverse groove 15. It is understood that the dimensions of the longitudinal grooves 16 are formed analogously and fall within the specified ranges. In this case, the dimensions of the transverse grooves 15 and the longitudinal grooves may differ from each other. Usually, the longitudinal grooves have a narrower groove bottom than the transverse grooves. Also, their opening angle is typically smaller.

The invention has been explained using the example of a plastic bottle with a filling volume of 125 ml. In principle, the invention is not limited to such filling volumes. It can be seen that the provision of structurings 10 in the shoulder section 6, particularly in the case of plastic bottles with filling volumes of 50 ml to 330 ml, brings advantages with regard to the achievable stiffnesses. While in the illustrated embodiment, the entire shoulder portion 6 is provided with structurings 10, it is understood that they can also be provided only in a partial region of the axial Erstrek- kung and the circumference of the shoulder portion. The structures may be formed on plastic bottles made by stretch blow molding or extrusion blow molding. It proves to be particularly advantageous if the structuring are generated during the blowing process within the mold cavity of the blow mold.

Claims

claims

1. Plastic bottle and the like container for receiving fluid substances with an elongated body (2), whose one longitudinal end is closed by a bottom (3) and whose opposite end is in a neck portion (4) with a pouring opening (5). and having a shoulder portion (6) extending from the neck portion (4) to a larger diameter portion (7) of the body (2), characterized in that the shoulder portion (6) is at least part of its axial and in

Circumferentially extending extension with structuring (10) is provided.

2. Plastic bottle according to claim 1, characterized in that the structurings (10) are arranged uniformly along the circumferential extent of the shoulder portion (6) and comprise repetitive, annularly arranged geometric basic structures (13, 14).

3. Plastic bottle according to claim 2, characterized in that in the shoulder portion (6) has two or more rings (11, 12) of geometric basic structures

(13, 14) are arranged, which are separated by transverse grooves (15).

4. Plastic bottle according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the basic geometric structures (13, 14) are separated from one another by substantially in the longitudinal direction of the body (2) extending grooves (16).

5. Plastic bottle according to claim 4, characterized in that the longitudinally extending grooves (16) are arranged in a projection view parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body (2).

6. Plastic bottle according to claim 4, characterized in that the longitudinally extending grooves (16) in an projection view with the longitudinal axis of the body (2) enclose an angle of up to 45 °.

7. Plastic bottle according to one of claims 3 - 6, characterized in that the transverse and / or the longitudinal grooves (15, 16) have a depth (t) of about 0.5 mm to about 1.5 mm.

8. Plastic bottles according to claim 7, characterized in that the transverse and / or longitudinal grooves (15, 16) have a groove bottom (17) whose perpendicular to the groove profile measured width (b) about 0.2 mm to about 1.2 mm is.

9. Plastic bottle according to one of claims 3 - 8, characterized in that the walls (18, 19) of the transverse and / or longitudinal grooves (15, 16) with each other include an opening angle (α), which is about 50 ° to about 100 ° is.

10. Plastic bottle according to any one of claims 2-9, characterized in that in rings (11, 12) arranged structurings 9 to 15, preferably 10 to 14, geometric basic structures (13, 14), the equally massive over the circumference are arranged.

11. plastic bottle according to claim 10, characterized in that in the shoulder terabschnitt (6) two or more rings (11, 12) of geometric basic structures (13, 14) are arranged, each ring (11, 12) the same number of geometric Basic structures (13, 14) which are separated by longitudinal grooves (16) which extend over adjacent ring structures (11, 12).

12. Plastic bottle according to one of claims 2 - 12, characterized in that the geometric basic structures (13, 14) are formed rectangular to trapezoidal.

13. Plastic bottle according to claim 12, characterized in that the basic structures (13, 14) have a height which is 1 to 1.5 times their width.

14. Plastic bottle according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has a filling volume of 50 ml to 330 ml.

15. Plastic bottle according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the structurings (10) are produced in the shoulder portion (6) in a stretch blow or extrusion blow process within the mold cavity of a blow mold.