Foamed-wall container having a non-transparent appearance
OwnerFrank E. Semerskyinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A container comprises a micro cellular foamed polymer, and a non-reactive gas contained within the micro cellular foam cells, wherein the container has a non-transparent appearance. The process for making the container comprises injection molding a polymer preform having a non-reactive gas entrapped within the walls thereof, cooling the preform to a temperature below the polymer softening temperature, reheating the preform to a temperature above the polymer softening temperature, and blow molding the preform, to prepare a container comprising a micro cellular foamed polymer having a non-reactive gas contained within the micro cellular foam cells.
Claims25
A blow-molded container comprising:
- a micro cellular foamed polymer formed without a blowing agent suitable for blow molding having micro cellular foam cells;
- and
- a non-reactive gas contained within the micro cellular foam cells, wherein the container has a non-transparent appearance without the use of a colorant.
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A blow-molded container comprising:
- a micro cellular foamed polymer formed without a blowing agent suitable for blow molding having micro cellular foam cells, the polymer comprising one or more of a polyester, polypropylene, acrylonitrile acid ester, vinyl chloride, polyolefin, polyamide, or a derivative or copolymer thereof;
- and
- a non-reactive gas within the micro cellular foam cells comprising one or more of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon, wherein the color of the preform is about CIE L*a*b* Color Scale values of:
- L* values in the range of about 41.5 through 46.0;
- a* values in the range of about 0.10 through 0.25;
- and b* values in the range of about 2.20 through 3.10 without the use of a colorant.
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A process for preparing a container, comprising the steps of:
- injection molding a polymer preform having a non-reactive gas entrapped within the walls thereof and having a non-transparent appearance without the use of a colorant;
- cooling the preform to a temperature below the polymer softening temperature;
- reheating the preform to a temperature greater than the polymer softening temperature;
- and
- blow molding the preform to prepare a container consisting essentially of a micro cellular foamed polymer formed without a blowing agent suitable for blow molding having micro cellular foam cells and having a non-reactive gas contained within the micro cellular foam cells, wherein the container has a non-transparent appearance without the use of a colorant.
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A process for preparing a micro cellular preform comprising the steps of:
- injection molding a micro cellular polymer preform suitable for blow molding having micro cellular foam cells having a non-reactive gas entrapped within the cells thereof, formed without a blowing agent, and having a non-transparent appearance without the use of a colorant;
- cooling the preform to a temperature below the polymer softening temperature of the polymer forming the preform;
- and
- reheating the preform to a temperature above the glass transition temperature of the polymer and below the temperature at which the increasing pressure of the micro cellular gas cells exceeds that of the ability of the polymer properties to resist and the micro cellular cells expand to result in a distorted preform.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.