Method of making containers and preforms incorporating barrier materials

Abstract

A container of the type adapted to contain an ingestible product and configured to having a multi-layer wall portion. The wall portion includes a multi-component layer having at least two discreet sublayers with an interface extending between the sublayers and extending longitudinally of the container and terminating in a threaded end portion. One sublayer is virgin polyethylene terephthalate, and the other sublayer is a barrier formed of a copolyester of terephthalic acid of low permeability. An outer layer material formed of a recycled polyethylene terephthalate has a thickness greater than the thickness of the barrier sublayer. The several layer materials have refracted indices within the range of 1.55 to 1.75. A process for the production of a multi-layer plastic container involving injecting a virgin polyethylene terephthalate and a thermoplastic barrier material through a lamellar injection system to provide a composite-multilamellae stream. The composite stream is supplied to a premold to form an initial preform. Recycled polyethylene terephthalate is then supplied over the initial preform to form an outer layer of a final preform which is then subjected to a blow molding operation to form the container. Alternatively, virgin polyethylene terephthalate can be supplied to a premold to form an initial preform. Recycled polyethylene terephthalate and a thermoplastic barrier polymer are then injected through a lamellar injection system to form a composite stream of discreet lamella of these materials which are supplied over the initial preform to form a final preform which is then blow molded to the desired configuration.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.