Thin walled plastic container construction
AssigneeNational Can Corporation
InventorDonald D. Cochran
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A lightweight plastic container having improved strength and rigidity characteristics for a given amount of plastic material is provided. The container is of one-piece thin-walled construction having four generally flat sidewalls interconnected by curved corner portions and having a bottom portion interconnected to the flat sidewalls by curved base portions and further having an integral handle formed within the bottle profile. The container incorporates a pair of longitudinally extending ribbing structures in a pair of opposed curved corner portions and other inventive constructional features enabling the lightweight container to withstand hydrostatic forces without buckling or dimpling as well as heavier conventionally constructed plastic containers.
Claims62
A one-piece molded plastic container construction having:
- four upstanding sidewall portions symmetrically located about a common longitudinal axis,
- curved corner portions interconnecting adjacent side edge areas of respective sidewall portions,
- a bottom portion,
- curved base portions interconnecting adjacent bottom edge areas of respective said sidewall portions with adjacent edge areas of said bottom portion,
- a hollow handle formed generally in a region extending along a first of said curved corner portions and generally within the profile thereof, the portion of said handle intermediate the end portions being spaced by an aperture from a panel section which extends between the pair of sidewall portions adjoining said first curved corner portion,
- a top portion having a mouth region, which mouth region is coaxial with said longitudinal axis, said top portion being interconnected with adjacent top edge areas of respective sidewall portions,
- the upper end areas of said handle and said panel section being each interconnected with said top portion and the lower end area of said handle being interconnected with an upper portion of said first curved corner portion, and
- first and second ribbing structures, each one thereof being respectively defined longitudinally in opposed second and third said curved corner portions adjacent said first curved corner portion, each one of such ribbing structures including two matching ridge line members, each such ribbing structure extending in its respective associated curved corner portion approximately from a position in said top portion in spaced relationship to said mouth region at least to the top edge areas of said curved base portions, and each such ribbing structure having its respective two ridge line members spaced laterally from one another therealong, this lateral spacing is at a maximum in a location which is situated generally between said bottom edge areas of said top portion and said lower end area of said handle.
A one-piece molded plastic container construction having:
- four upstanding sidewall portions symmetrically located about a common longitudinal axis,
- curved corner portions interconnecting adjacent side edge areas of respective said sidewall portions,
- a bottom portion,
- curved base portions interconnecting adjacent bottom edge areas of respective said sidewall portions with adjacent edge areas of said bottom portion,
- a hollow handle formed generally in a region extending along a first of said curved corner portions and generally within the profile thereof, said handle having lower and upper end areas and a mid-portion, the mid-portion of said handle being spaced by an aperture from a panel section which extends between the pair of sidewall portions adjoining said first curved corner portion,
- a top portion having bottom edge areas and a mouth region coaxial with said longitudinal axis, said top portion having a lesser radius of curvature where the bottom edge areas of said top portion join respective top edge areas of said sidewall portions than where said bottom edge areas of said top portion join top edge areas of said curved corner portions other than that of said first curved corner portion,
- the upper end areas of said handle and said panel section being each interconnected with said top portion and the lower end area of said handle being interconnected with an upper portion of said first curved corner portion,
- first and second ribbing structures, each one thereof being respectively defined longitudinally in opposed second and third said curved corner portions adjacent said first curved corner portion, each one of such ribbing structures including two matching ridge line members, each such ribbing structure extending in its respective associated curved corner position approximately from a position in said top portion in spaced relationship to said mouth region at least to the top edge areas of said curved base portions, and each such ribbing structure having each of its respective matching ridge line members spaced laterally from the other therealong, this lateral spacing reaching a maximum in a location which is situated generally between bottom edge areas of said top portion and said lower end area of said handle,
- a second pair of ribbing structures, each one thereof being defined as a closed loop that extends along a different outside edge of said handle, and further extends around the perimeter of one side of said aperture in a different one of said pair of sidewall portions and in said top portion, each such ribbing structure including at least one ridge line member, and
- a trough defined in said bottom portion and extending diagonally thereacross between and including at least portions of the adjoining respective said curved base portions with opposed end portions of said trough adjoining the respective bottom end portion of each one of said first ribbing structures.
A lightweight one-piece molded plastic container comprising four sidewall portions defining centrally thereof a longitudinal axis, curved corner portions interconnecting adjacent sidewall portions, a bottom portion interconnected with lower edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions, a top portion interconnected with upper edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions, a handle extending along a first corner portion, and a ribbing structure formed respectively in opposed second and third corner portions adjacent said first corner portion, each one ribbing structure including two matching ridge line members spaced laterally from one another and both running longitudinally along the respective corner portion substantially parallel with one another beneath said handle and diverging away from one another upwardly adjacent said handle.
A lightweight one-piece molded plastic container comprising four sidewall portions defining centrally thereof a longitudinal axis, a plurality of corner portions interconnecting adjacent sidewall portions, a bottom portion interconnected with lower edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions, a top portion interconnected with upper edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions, a handle extending along a first corner portion, a ribbing structure formed respectively in opposed second and third corner portions adjacent said first corner portion, each one ribbing structure including at least one ridge line member, and the plan profile for a fourth corner portion, opposed from said first corner portion, being wider than that of the corresponding plan profile of said remaining three corner portions.
A lightweight one-piece molded plastic container comprising four sidewall portions defining centrally thereof a longitudinal axis, curved corner portions interconnecting adjacent sidewall portions, a bottom portion interconnected with lower edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions, a top portion interconnected with upper edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions and being formed with a mouth opening, a handle extending along a first corner portion, a raised, substantially planar, panel section extending between the pair of sidewall portions adjoining said first corner portion, said handle being spaced along a portion thereof by an aperture from said panel section, and first and second bead-shaped discontinuities located on said panel section respectively over and along laterally opposed outer edges thereof.
A lightweight one-piece blow-molded plastic bottle, having a volume of substantially one gallon and weighing 55 grams or less, comprising four sidewall portions defining centrally thereof a longitudinal axis, curved corner portions interconnecting adjacent sidewall portions, a bottom portion interconnected with lower edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions, a top portion interconnected with upper edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions, a handle extending along a first corner portion, a ribbing structure formed respectively in opposed second and third corner portions adjacent said first corner portion, each one ribbing structure including two matching ridge line members spaced from one another.
A lightweight one-piece blow-molded plastic bottle, having a volume of substantially one half gallon and weighing substantially less than 45 grams, comprising four sidewall portions defining centrally thereof a longitudinal axis, curved corner portions interconnecting adjacent sidewall portions, a bottom portion interconnected with lower edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions, a top portion interconnected with upper edge areas of said sidewall and corner portions, a handle extending along a first corner portion, a ribbing structure formed respectively in opposed second and third corner portions adjacent said first corner portion, each one ribbing structure including two matching ridge line members spaced from one another.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.