# US 12,182,642 B2 · Plastic container and method for determining a property of a plastic container

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- Number: US 12,182,642 B2
- Document ID: US12182642B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/027,519
- Filed: 2021-09-20
- Published: 2023-11-23
- Granted: 2024-12-31
- Earliest claimed: 2020-09-21
- Assignees: Alpla Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co. KG
- Applicants: ALPLA Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co. KG
- Inventors: Christian Zmölnig; Thomas Bohle
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12182642B2

## CPC

- B65D 1/40: Details of walls (other container details B65D23/00, B65D25/00)
- G06K 1/121: {by printing code marks (applying code marks to labels B65C9/46; marking or coding completed packages B65B61/26)}
- B65D 1/0207: {characterised by material, e.g. composition, physical features}
- B65D 11/20: {Details of walls made of plastics material}
- G06K 19/06037: {multi-dimensional coding}
- G09F 3/0297: {including a machine-readable marking, e.g. a bar code (digitally marked record carriers in general G06K19/00)}
- B65D 2203/00: Decoration means, markings, information elements, contents indicators
- B65D 2203/06: Arrangements on packages concerning bar-codes
- B65D: CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
- G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G09F: DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS

## Abstract

The invention relates to a plastic container (100) having a container wall (102) with an outside (10) and an inside. A surface (11) of the outside (10) has a structure at least in a first region (30). Said structure is formed by elevations (31) and/or recesses (32). Each elevation (31) or recess (32) has one or more boundary faces (33). Each transition from a first boundary face (33) to a second boundary face (33) or to the surface (11) of the container wall (102) has a radius, which is less than or equal to 5 μm. The invention also relates to a method for determining a property of a plastic container and verifying the authenticity.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A plastic container (100) produced in an extrusion blow molding method or in an injection blow molding method (IBM), the plastic container (100) having a container wall (102) with an outside (10) and an inside, a surface (11) of the outside (10) having a structure at least in a first region (30), said structure being formed by elevations (31) and/or recesses (32), each elevation (31) or recess (32) having one or more boundary faces (33),
wherein
a transition from a first boundary face (33) to a second boundary face (33) or to the surface (11) of the container wall (102) has a radius that is less than or equal to 5 μm.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The plastic container (100) according to claim 1,
wherein
the region (30) in the surface (11) is formed raised or recessed in the form of a character, a geometric figure or a symbol.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The plastic container (100) according to claim 2,
wherein
the region (30) has a mean height or a mean depth which does not exceed 25 μm.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

A batch made up of a plurality of plastic containers (100) according to claim 2, wherein each plastic container (100) of this batch has, on a sub-portion of the surface (11), an arrangement of regions (30) which is recurring on all plastic containers (100) of the same batch.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The plastic container according to claim 1,
wherein
the surface (11) has a plurality of regions (30) which are arranged in a form of a QR code or a barcode in such a way that the plurality of regions represent machine-readable information.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The plastic container (100) according to claim 5,
wherein
the machine-readable information contains details about a material of the plastic container (100) or about a filling material or about a production batch or about a deposit system assigned to the plastic container (100) or about a manufacturer of the plastic container (100) or the filling material.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The plastic container (100) according to claim 5,
wherein
the machine-readable information is provided by a position of two or more of the regions (30) relative to one another, in particular by a distance between them, and/or by a rotation thereof relative to one another, and/or by a different combination of the structures of the two or more regions.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The plastic container (100) according to claim 1,
wherein
the plastic container (100) is made of a polyolefin, in particular of polypropylene or HDPE.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The plastic container (100) according to claim 1,
wherein
the structure is formed from uniformly arranged elevations (31) and/or recesses (32).

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The plastic container (100) according to claim 1,
wherein
the structure is designed as a reflection grating.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

A method for determining a property of a plastic container (100) according to claim 1, wherein an arrangement of regions (30) applied to the plastic container (100) is compared to a reference arrangement and the corresponding property is determined on the basis of this comparison, the property being a material of the plastic container (100) or a filling material or a production batch or a deposit system assigned to the plastic container (100) or a manufacturer of the plastic container (100) or the filling material.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, the arrangement of regions (30) being an arrangement (20) recurring in a batch of plastic containers (100) in all plastic containers (100).

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, wherein the comparison between the arrangement (20) on the plastic container (100) and the reference arrangement is carried out by means of digital image processing.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, wherein the plastic container (100) has at least one second arrangement (20) of regions (30) which is assigned a second property.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method according to claim 14, the second arrangement (20) being an individual authenticity feature per batch and/or per plastic container (100).

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The method for verifying the authenticity of a plastic container (100) according to claim 1, or of a filling material contained therein, wherein an individual arrangement (20) of a plurality of regions (30) is applied to each plastic container (100), the individual arrangement (20) being provided by a position of two or more regions (30) relative to one another, by a distance between them, and/or by a rotation thereof relative to one another, and/or by a different combination of the structures of the two or more regions (30), and this individual arrangement (20) being linked to corresponding authenticity information in a database.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The plastic container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the transition from the first boundary face (33) to the second boundary face (33) or to the surface (11) of the container wall (102) has a radius that is less than or equal to 1 μm.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

The plastic container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the transition from the first boundary face (33) to the second boundary face (33) or to the surface (11) of the container wall (102) has a radius that is less than or equal to 0.5 μm.