Lightweight plastic container and preform
AssigneePlastipak Packaging, Inc.
InventorsRichard C. Darr, Edward V. Morgan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A plastic container is provided that includes a lower supporting base portion; a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the base portion; a neck portion extending upwardly from the sidewall portion; and a closure. The neck portion includes a support flange having an upper and lower surface, threads, a tamper-evident formation, and a dispensing opening at the top of the neck portion. In an embodiment, the weight of the neck portion is 3.0 grams or less; and the vertical distance from the top of the dispensing opening to the lower surface of the support flange, including the threads and the tamper-evident formation, is 0.580 inches or less. A preform and method for making a container are also disclosed.
Claims28
A container assembly comprising:
- (i) a plastic blow molded container comprising:
- a lower supporting base portion;
- a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the base portion;
- and
- a neck portion extending upwardly from the sidewall portion, the neck portion including a dispensing opening positioned at a top of the neck portion, threads positioned below the dispensing opening, a tamper-evident formation positioned below the threads, and a support flange positioned below the tamper-evident formation, the support flange having an upper surface and a lower surface;
- (ii) a closure configured to receive the threads;
- wherein the container is formed of a material comprising polyethylene terephthalate (PET);
- a weight of the neck portion is 3.0 grams or less;
- a vertical distance from the lower surface of the support flange to a top of the dispensing opening, including the threads and the tamper-evident formation, is 0.450 inches or less;
- a vertical distance from the top of the dispensing opening to the upper surface of the support flange is 0.40 inches or less;
- a vertical distance from a furthest radially-extending portion of a lower surface of the tamper-evident formation to the upper surface of the support flange is 0.10 inches or less;
- a vertical distance between the furthest outwardly radially-extending portion of the lower surface of the tamper-evident formation to the lower surface of the support flange at the same outward radial distance is 0.15 inches or less;
- and the tamper-evident formation is vertically spaced from the threads.
A container assembly comprising:
- (i) a plastic blow molded container comprising:
- a base portion;
- a sidewall portion;
- and
- a neck portion;
- the neck portion including threads, a tamper-evident formation, and a support flange;
- (ii) a closure configured to receive the threads;
- wherein the container is formed of a material comprising polyethylene terephthalate (PET);
- a vertical distance from a lower surface of the support flange to a top of the neck portion is 0.450 inches or less;
- a weight of the neck portion is 2.3 grams or less;
- and an outside diameter of the support flange is greater than 22 mm and less than or equal to 39.2 mm.
A container assembly comprising:
- (i) a plastic blow molded container comprising:
- a base portion;
- a sidewall portion;
- and
- a neck portion;
- the neck portion including threads, a tamper-evident formation, and a support flange;
- (ii) a closure configured to receive the threads;
- wherein the container is formed of a material comprising polyethylene terephthalate (PET);
- a vertical distance from a lower surface of the support flange to a top of the neck portion is 0.580 inches or less;
- an outside diameter of the support flange is greater than 22 mm and less than or equal to 39.2 mm;
- a volume of the container is at least 500 ml;
- and the container is filled with a beverage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.