Collapsible and reboundable blow-molded bottle
AssigneeGraham Packaging Company, L.P.
InventorSheldon E. Yourist
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A blow-molded bottle including a top portion, a bottom portion and a collapsible portion. The collapsible portion further includes opposing panels and opposing sidewalls, the opposing panels having a contoured shape defined by a compound curvature. The compound curvature is defined by a convex longitudinally extending curvature and a concave laterally extending curvature extending between the opposing sidewalls. Application of a force to the opposing panels causes the opposing panels to collapse from an uncollapsed state to a collapsed state, and non-application of the force to the opposing panels returns the opposing panels to the uncollapsed state.
Claims36
A blow-molded bottle comprising:
- a top portion;
- a bottom portion;
- and,
- a collapsible portion disposed between the top portion and the bottom portion;
- the top portion, bottom portion and collapsible portion define a unitary bottle body;
- the collapsible portion, in an uncollapsed state, further comprising:
- opposing panels and opposing sidewalls forming a continuous wall of the collapsible portion, wherein each of the opposing panels having a contoured shape defined by a compound curvature and each of the sidewalls having a convex shape;
- wherein the opposing panels comprise a first end and a second end, and wherein a middle section of the collapsible portion is between the first end and the second end, and wherein at the middle section of the collapsible portion a distance between the panels is at a minimum value and a distance between the sidewalls is at a maximum value.
A blow-molded bottle comprising:
- a top portion;
- a bottom portion;
- and,
- a collapsible portion disposed between the top portion and the bottom portion;
- the top portion, bottom portion and collapsible portion define a unitary bottle body;
- the collapsible portion further comprising:
- opposing panels and opposing sidewalls forming a continuous wall of the collapsible portion, the opposing panels being separated by a panel distance, and the sidewalls being separated by a sidewall distance;
- wherein each of the opposing panels having a contoured shape defined by a compound curvature and the sidewalls having a convex shape;
- wherein the opposing panels collapse when a force is applied to the opposing panels and the opposing panels elastically rebound upon non-application of the force.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.