US 6,548,123 B1Granted

Method for coating a plastic container with vacuum vapor deposition

AssigneeThe Coca-Cola Company

InventorsGeorge Plester, Horst Ehrich, Mark Rule

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A method, composition and system for coating an external surface of containers and in particular, plastic containers, provides for low permeability to gases and vapors. The coating applied to the external surface of the containers is very thin and is comprised of one or several inorganic substances or layers of substances. For example, the coating can include silica which is bonded to the external surface of the container. This coating will be flexible and can be applied regardless of the container's internal pressure or lack thereof. The coating will firmly adhere to the container and possess an enhanced gas barrier effect after pressurization even when the coating is scratched, fractured, flexed and/or stretched. Moreover, this gas barrier enhancement will be substantially unaffected by filling of the container.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A method for coating plastic containers comprising the steps of:

introducing said containers into a vacuum cell;
generating a high-energy coating plasma within the vacuum cell by heating and evaporating an inorganic coating material with an electron beam disposed within the vacuum cell to form a coating vapor within the vacuum cell and energizing the coating vapor with the electron beam to form the high-energy coating plasma within the vacuum cell;
supplying at least one reactive gas to an interior of the vacuum cell;
supplying, within the vacuum cell, the high-energy coating plasma to an external surface of the containers in the presence of the at least one reactive gas and at sub-atmospheric pressure such that the high-energy coating plasma reacts with the reactive gas and deposits a relatively thin coating on the external surface of the containers, the thin coating comprises an inorganic compound, and bonding between at least a portion of the relatively thin coating deposited on the containers and the external surface of the containers occurs;
and
removing the containers from the vacuum cell.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/735,313Filed 12 Dec 2000 · division
Priority: 14 Mar 1997
Published: US 2003/0077400 A124 Apr 2003
Granted: 15 Apr 2003
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

C23C 14/10
Characterised by the coating material: glass or silica
B29B 17/0026
Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics: by agglomeration or compacting
B29K 2709/08
Use of inorganic materials not provided for in groups B29K2703/00 - B29K2707/00, for preformed parts, e.g. for inserts: glass
B29K 2995/0067
Permeability to gases: non-permeable