BOTTLE

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a bottle having a neck portion and a body portion for containing liquid contents therein. The bottle includes a plurality of guides formed around at least partial area or an entire area of the body portion. The guides protrude inwards from the inner surface of the body portion to have convex shapes. Thus, the liquid contents are guided towards an opening of the neck portion while spirally revolving inside the body portion. At least one reinforcing wire is provided in the guides to reinforce upright strength of the body portion formed with the plurality of guides.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a bottle for containing liquid contents therein, and more particularly to a bottle which can stably discharge liquid contents through an opening by making the contained liquid contents smoothly flow along a plurality of guides arranged in a spiral pattern, and in which at least one reinforcing wire is provided in the guides, thus ensuring upright strength of a body portion of the bottle.

2. Description of the Related Art

At present, beverages, such as water and colas, liquors, or liquid-type food, are contained in various kinds of containers. Examples of such liquid containers are paper bottles, PET bottles, glass bottles, and metal bottles (aluminum cans).

Of these containers, the PET bottle is the most popular liquid container thanks to its many advantages, such as that it can contain contents for a relatively long time, i.e. contents in the PET bottle barely decay after a long time of storage because gas transmittance of the PET bottle is very low compared with other kinds of containers, it hardly breaks when it is dropped in a state in which it is filled with contents, it does not produce broken pieces even when it is ruptured, and it is convenient to carry and keep the PET bottle because the PET bottle is lighter than a glass bottle.

The known PET bottle having the above advantages is generally composed of a neck portion which has an opening at an end and threads on an outer surface thereof for sealing when the neck portion is combined with a cover, and a body portion extending from the neck portion and containing contents therein. The body portion may be of various sizes and forms according to the type of contents.

There are ways of discharging the contents of the PET bottle. For example, when a user tilts the PET bottle to pour the contents into a vessel, such as a cup, or to directly drink the contents from the PET bottle, the contents are discharged from the PET bottle.

In such a case, there is a possibility that the contents contained in the body portion of the PET bottle are not smoothly discharged but are abruptly discharged at excessive pressure, so that the contents are likely to gush out of the PET bottle and to splatter on a user's clothes or the surrounding area.

In particular, when the user directly drinks the contents from the bottle, the user may choke or his or her clothes or body may get splashed.

Further, since the bottles have large volumes even when they are empty, it is difficult to deal with the empty bottles or it is required to install additional equipment in households to reduce the volume of the empty bottles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a bottle which has a body portion provided with a plurality of guides arranged in a spiral pattern so that liquid contents can be smoothly discharged through an opening of the bottle, while spirally revolving inside the bottle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bottle which can prevent liquid contents from gushing out of the bottle so that a user can smoothly pour or drink the liquid contents, and it is possible to prevent contamination attributable to a violent gushing of the liquid contents from occurring.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a bottle which has at least one reinforcing wire provided in the guides such that the upright strength of the body portion can be maintained despite movement of the liquid contents.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a bottle which can be crushed by twisting and compressing the body portion after the bottle has been emptied if the bottle is made of PET, so that the volume of the bottle is minimized.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a bottle having a neck portion and a body portion for containing liquid contents therein, the body portion including: a plurality of guides formed around at least partial area or an entire area of the body portion in a spiral pattern, the guides protruding inwards from an inner surface of the body portion to have convex shapes, so that the liquid contents are guided towards an opening of the neck portion while spirally revolving inside the body portion; and at least one reinforcing wire provided in the plurality of guides to reinforce an upright strength of the body portion formed with the plurality of guides.

Preferably, the guides may be formed in a partial area or entirety of a lower area of the body portion based on a midpoint of the body portion.

Furthermore, when the guides are formed in the entire area of the body portion including an upper area and the lower area based on the midpoint of the body portion, an outer surface of the lower area of the body portion may have an uneven surface formed by the guides, and an inner surface of the lower area thereof may have a planar shape.

The convex shape of each of the guides may be streamlined or angled.

In addition, when the convex shape of each of the guides is streamlined, a cross-section of the guide protruding inwards from the inner surface of the body portion may have a shape of a letter “C” or a reversed letter “C”, wherein a curvature of the guide may be uniform or change in a manner such that a curvature of a leading portion thereof is smaller than a curvature of a tailing portion with respect to a direction in which the liquid contents are discharged, and the guide may spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

Furthermore, when the convex shape of each of the guides is angled, a cross-section of the guide may have an angled shape of “>” or “<”, and the guide may spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

The reinforcing wire may extend in direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the body portion formed with the plurality of guides or in a direction inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion.

The reinforcing wire may comprise a plurality of reinforcing wires each of which is shorter than the body portion formed with the plurality of guides, wherein the reinforcing wires are discontinuous.

Moreover, a cross-section of the reinforcing wire may have a square shape, a rectangular shape, a semicircular shape or a triangular shape such that a width thereof is reduced from a side contacting the guides to a side protruding inwards from the guides.

The bottle may comprise a paper bottle, a PET bottle, a metal bottle or a glass bottle.

Preferably, each of the plurality of guides may be configured such that a width thereof in the lower area of the body portion is greater than a width thereof in the upper area of the body portion, and a depth of the guide in the upper area of the body portion may be greater than a depth thereof in the lower area of the body portion.

Furthermore, each of the plurality of guides may have a uniform width in the upper area and the lower area of the body portion, and a depth of the guide in the upper area of the body portion may be greater than a depth thereof in the lower area of the body portion.

As described above, according to the present invention, the bottle is provided with a plurality of guides having a spiral pattern winding around a body portion of the bottle so that liquid contents in the bottle can be smoothly guided toward and discharged through the opening of the bottle while spirally revolving inside the bottle. Since the abrupt gushing of the liquid content is prevented, it is possible to smoothly pour and drive the liquid contents from the bottle and to prevent splattering of the liquid contents attributable to the abrupt discharge of the liquid contents from occurring.

In the case in which the bottle is used to contain a beverage, such as water, cola, or juice, since the flow of the beverage is moderate, it is possible to prevent accidents such as the user choking.

Furthermore, one or more reinforcing wires are provided in the guides to reinforce the upright strength of the body portion. Thus, the body portion formed with the guides can be prevented from being deformed even though the liquid contents in the bottle move excessively.

In the case where the bottle is a PET bottle, the volume of the bottle can be easily minimized by twisting and compressing the body portion after it has been emptied, thus facilitating collection of the empty bottles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a bottle, according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2a and 2b are sectional views taken along line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating another example of the bottle according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4a and 4b are sectional views taken along line B-B of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating another example of the bottle according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is of a perspective view and a partial section-enlarged view for explaining a curvature of a guide formed in the bottle according to the present invention;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a perspective view and partial sectional views of the bottle to illustrate a curvature of the guide formed in the bottle according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9a through 9d are views showing several examples of the shape of reinforcing wire according to the present invention;

FIGS. 10a through 10d are views showing examples of the guides of the bottle according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is of views illustrating a process of crushing a bottle made of PET according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a bottle having angled guides, according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is of a perspective view and a partial section-enlarged view for explaining a curvature of a guide formed in the bottle of FIG. 12;

FIGS. 14a and 14b are sectional views taken along line A-A of FIG. 12;

FIGS. 15a through 15d are views showing examples of the guides of the bottle according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 16 and 17 are a perspective view and partial sectional views of the bottle to illustrate a curvature of the guide formed in the bottle according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 18 is of views illustrating a process of crushing a PET bottle having angled guides according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ELEMENTS IN THE DRAWINGS

100, 200: bottle (PET bottle) 110, 210: neck portion
111, 211: opening             112, 212: thread
113, 213: cover               120, 220: body portion
121, 221: guide               122, 222: reinforcing wire

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components. In the following description, when it is determined that the detailed description of the conventional function and conventional structure would confuse the gist of the present invention, such a description may be omitted.

Terms in the description are defined considering functions of elements of the invention, so that the terms must be construed with reference to the contents of the present specification as a whole because such terms can be differently defined according to the intents of people skilled in their arts or customs.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a bottle, according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2a and 2b are sectional views taken along line A-A of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating another example of the bottle according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 4a and 4b are sectional views taken along line B-B of FIG. 3.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the bottle according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a neck portion 110 and a body portion 120.

The neck portion 110 has an opening 111 and a thread 112 to be combined with a cover 113 in a screwed manner. Alternatively, the neck portion 110 may be combined with the cover 113 in manners different from the screwed manner for ensuring sealing of the bottle. For example, the cover 113 may be combined with the neck portion 110 in a manner such that the cover 113 is removably fitted over the neck portion 110.

The body portion 120 extends from the neck portion 110 and contains liquid contents therein.

The bottle 100 having the above-mentioned structure can contain a beverage, such as water or cola, liquor, saline solution, or a liquid-type food, and can be made of various materials.

According to the kind of material, the bottle 100 can be one of a paper bottle, a PET bottle, a metal (aluminum) bottle or a glass bottle.

Hereinafter, the case where the bottle 100 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a PET (polyethylene terephthalate resin) bottle will be explained as one example.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the body portion 120 includes a plurality of guides 121 which protrude inwards from the circumferential inner surface of the body portion 120 to have convex shapes and are formed in a spiral pattern, so that the liquid contents proceed towards the opening 111 of the neck portion 110 while spirally revolving inside the bottle 100 and are then discharged out of the bottle 100. One or more reinforcing wires 122 are provided on the guides 121 to reinforce the upright strength of the body portion 120 having the guides 121

With such a structure, the outer surface of the body portion 120 having the guides 121 is depressed in the form corresponding to the guides 121 which protrude inwards from the inner surface of the body portion 120.

As the plurality of guides 121 is provided to the upper portion of the body portion 120 in the spiral pattern, the body portion 120 is wavelike in appearance.

The guides 121 may be formed on a portion or the entirety of a lower area of the body portion 120 based on the midpoint of the body portion 120. Alternatively, the guides 121 may be formed on the entire area of the body portion 120 including both an upper area and the lower area based on the midpoint.

Furthermore, in the case where the guides 121 are formed on the entire area of the body portion 120 including both the upper area and the lower area based on the midpoint of the body portion 120, the body portion 120 may be configured such that the outer surface of the lower area has an uneven shape and the inner surface thereof has a planar shape.

As a further alternative, the guides 121 may be formed only on a portion or the entirety of the upper area of the body portion 120.

The convex portion of each guide 121 has a streamlined shape and an angled shape.

Here, in the case where the convex portion of each guide 121 has the streamlined shape, the cross-section of the guide 121 which protrudes inwards from the inner surface of the body portion 120 has the shape of a letter “C” or a reversed letter “C.” With respect to the direction in which the contents are discharged, the guide 121 is configured such that the curvature thereof is constant or the curvature of at least a leading portion thereof is relatively smooth but the curvature of the tailing portion is rapidly increased. Furthermore, preferably, the guides 121 spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

Alternatively, the guide 121 may be configured such that the curvature thereof is maintained constant.

When the liquid flows in the above-mentioned manner, the curvature of a portion with which the liquid makes earlier contact must be relatively large and the curvature of a portion to which the liquid contacts later must be relatively small. The portion having the relatively large curvature hinders the flow of the liquid primarily and than the portion having the relatively small curvature makes the flow of the liquid slower. The border between the portion with the relatively large curvature and the portion with the relatively small curvature has a streamlined shape so that friction with the liquid is reduced.

In the case where the curvature is constant at every portion, it is also possible to attain a similar advantage of controlling the speed of flow of the liquid in the above-mentioned manner.

It is preferable that the plurality of guides 121 form a pattern including four or eight spiral lines, but the pattern is not limited thereto. That is, the pattern may have various numbers of spiral lines.

Further, the widths of the plurality of guides 121 are narrower in the upper area of the body portion 120 and broader at the lower area thereof.

Alternatively, the guides 121 may be configured such that the widths thereof gradually decrease towards the upper area of the body portion 120 and increase towards the lower area thereof, but do not change from the midpoint to the bottom of the body portion 120.

As a further alternative, the widths of the guides 121 may be uniform over their lengths.

In the present invention, the reinforcing wires 122 are provided on the guides 121 to reinforce the upright strength of the body portion 120. Preferably, each reinforcing wire 122 extends in the vertical direction, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the body portion 120, but the orientation of the reinforcing wire 122 is not limited thereto. For example, the reinforcing wire may be oriented in a direction inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion 120.

Here, the reinforcing wire 122 can be inclined in any direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion 120; in other words, it may be inclined from the left to the right or from the right to the left.

Preferably, each reinforcing wire 122 may comprise a plurality of reinforcing wires 122 each of which is shorter than the body portion 120 having the plurality of guides 121. In this case, the reinforcing wires 122 may be discontinuously provided.

In other words, for instance, the ends of the reinforcing wires 122 may be spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals without continuity. Alternatively, the reinforcing wires 122 may be arranged such that the ends thereof overlap each other.

FIG. 1 shows the PET bottle 100 having the above-described structure. In FIG. 1, the widths of the plurality of guides 121 in a spiral pattern are uniform over their lengths. FIGS. 2A and 2B are plan views of the upper area of the body portion of the PET bottle 100, which are taken along A-A of FIG. 1 and viewed from the bottom side.

FIG. 2a shows the case in which the number of guides 121 is eight, and FIG. 2b shows the case in which the number of guides 121 is four.

FIG. 3 shows the PET bottle 100 having a form in which the widths of the plurality of guides 121 decrease towards the upper end thereof but are gradually increased towards the middle point of the bottle. FIGS. 4A and 4B are plan views taken along line B-B of FIG. 3 and viewed from the bottom side of the PET bottle 100.

FIG. 4a shows the case where the number of guides 121 is eight and FIG. 4b shows the case where the number of guides 121 is four.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating another example of the bottle 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the PET bottle 100 according to this embodiment of the invention basically is similar in form and function to the PET bottle shown through FIGS. 1 through 4B. Accordingly, repetitive description will be omitted and only the differences therebetween will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the PET bottle 100 of this example, the entire area of the body portion 120 has a plurality of guides 121 which protrude inward from the circumferential inner surface of the body portion 120 and form a spiral pattern. One or more reinforcing wires 122 are provided on the guides 121 to reinforce the upright strength of the body portion 120.

Accordingly, the entire body portion 120 is wavelike in appearance. Furthermore, the body portion 120 having the guides 121 can be prevented from being deformed, for example, leaning in one direction owing to the flow of fluid contained in the bottle.

FIG. 6 is of a perspective view and a partial section-enlarged view illustrating the PET bottle 100 to explain the curvature of the guides 121 provided to the PET bottle 100.

As shown in FIG. 6, when tilting and pouring the liquid contents, for example cola, from the PET bottle 100, the liquid contents revolve along the plurality of guides 121 inside the PET bottle 100 and therefore the liquid contents are smoothly discharged through the opening 111.

As shown in FIG. 6, a curvature of a portion (b) of each guide 121 which is on the leading side based on a midpoint (c) in the direction of the liquid contents flowing out is greater than a curvature of a portion (a) which is on the tailing side. That is, the portion (a) has a gentle curve and the portion (b) has a tight curve, thus preventing the liquid contents from being abruptly discharged.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a perspective view and partial sectional views of the bottle to illustrate the curvature of the guide 121 formed in the bottle according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the FIGS. 7 and 8, the width and depth of each guide 121 at the midpoint (b) of the body portion 120 may differ from those of the guide 121 on the upper area (a) of the body portion 120.

That it, the width and depth of the guide 121 on the upper area (a) of the body portion 120 are greater than those of the guide 121 at the midpoint (b) of the body portion 120.

FIGS. 9a through 9d are views showing several examples of the shape of reinforcing wire 122 according to the present invention.

As shown in these drawings, when seen by the horizontal cross-section of the body portion 120 having the guides 121, the reinforcing wire 122 may have various cross-sectional shapes, for example, a square shape, a rectangular shape, a semicircular shape, a triangular shape, etc., in which its side contacting the guide 121 is relatively wide and the width thereof is reduced in its side protruding inwards from the inner surface of the guide 121. Here, the cross-sectional shape of the reinforcing wire 122 is not limited to a special shape, so long as it can function to prevent the body portion 120 having the guides 121 from being deformed or leaning in one direction attributable to the flow of fluid contained in the bottle.

FIGS. 10a through 10d are views showing examples of the guides 121 of the bottle according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10a illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 121 is formed only on the upper area of the body portion 120. FIG. 10b illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 121 is formed on the entirety of the body portion 120. FIG. 10c illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 121 is formed only a portion or entirety of the lower area of the body portion 120. FIG. 10d illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 121 is formed on the entirety of the body portion 120 but the inner surface of the lower area thereof is planar.

FIG. 11 is of views illustrating a process of crushing the PET bottle to scrap it according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The PET bottle 100 is crushed and distorted by twisting and compressing along the plurality of guides 121 formed in the body portion 120 of the PET bottle 100. When a compressing force is applied to the PET bottle 100, the midpoint or a border between the large-curvature portion and the small-curvature portion of each guide 121 having the letter “C” shape or the reversed letter “C” shape is folded over along the length of the spiral pattern, thus making it possible to reduce the volume of the empty bottle.

Thanks to minimization of the volume of bottle, empty bottles can be more easily collected.

FIGS. 12 through 17 are views illustrating a bottle having angled guides, according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 12 through 17, the bottle 200 includes a neck portion 210 and a body portion 220 in the same manner as that of the first embodiment.

The neck portion 210 has an opening 211 and a thread 212 to be combined with a cover 213 in a screwed manner. The body portion 220 extends from the neck portion 210 and contains liquid contents therein.

Hereinafter, repetitive description of the same construction of the second embodiment as that of the first embodiment will be omitted and only the differences therebetween will be described.

The case where the bottle 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is a PET (polyethylene terephthalate resin) bottle will be explained as one example.

The body portion 220 includes a plurality of guides 221 which protrude inwards from the circumferential inner surface of the body portion 220 to have convex shapes and are formed in a spiral pattern, so that the liquid contents proceed towards the opening 211 of the neck portion 210 while spirally revolving inside the bottle 200 and are then discharged out of the bottle 200. One or more reinforcing wires 222 are provided on the guides 221 to reinforce the upright strength of the body portion 220.

Here, each guide 221 according to the second embodiment has an angled shape, unlike the first embodiment in which the guide 121 has a streamlined shape.

The outer surface of the body portion 220 having the guides 221 is depressed in the form corresponding to the guides 221 which protrude inwards from the inner surface of the body portion 220 in an angled convex shape. As the plurality of guides 221 is provided to the body portion 220 in the spiral pattern, the appearance of the body portion 220 has an angled-wave shape.

In the same manner as the first embodiment, the guides 221 may be formed on a portion or the entirety of a lower area of the body portion 220 based on the midpoint of the body portion 220. Alternatively, the guides 221 may be formed on the entire area of the body portion 220 including both an upper area and the lower area based on the midpoint. As a further alternative, the body portion 220 may be configured such that the guides 221 are formed on the entire area of the body portion 220 but the outer surface of the lower area thereof has an uneven shape and the inner surface thereof has a planar shape.

As a further alternative, the guides 221 may be formed only on a portion or the entirety of the upper area of the body portion 220.

As such, in the case where the convex portion of each guide 221 has the angled shape, the cross-section of the guide 221 which protrudes inwards from the inner surface of the body portion 220 has a shape of “>” or “<.” Furthermore, the guides 221 spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

In the same manner as the first embodiment, the reinforcing wire 222 which functions to reinforce the upright strength of the body portion 220 extends in the vertical direction, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the body portion 220 having the plurality of guides 221, or in a direction inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion 220.

Here, the reinforcing wire 222 may be inclined from the left to the right or from the right to the left with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion 220.

Preferably, each reinforcing wire 222 may comprise a plurality of reinforcing wires 222 each of which is shorter than the body portion 220 having the plurality of guides 221. In this case, the reinforcing wires 222 may be discontinuously provided.

In other words, for instance, the ends of the reinforcing wires 222 may be spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals without continuity. Alternatively, the reinforcing wires 222 may be arranged such that the ends thereof overlap each other.

Furthermore, in the same manner as the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9a through 9b, when seen by the horizontal cross-section of the body portion 220 having the guides 221, the reinforcing wire 222 may have various cross-sectional shapes, for example, a square shape, a rectangular shape, a semicircular shape, a triangular shape, etc., in which its side contacting the guide 221 is relatively wide and the width thereof is reduced in its side protruding inwards from the inner surface of the guide 221.

FIG. 13 is of a perspective view and a partial section-enlarged view for explaining the curvature of the guide formed in the bottle of FIG. 12.

As shown in FIG. 13, when tilting and pouring the liquid contents, for example cola, from the PET bottle 200, the liquid contents revolve along the plurality of guides 221 inside the PET bottle 200 and therefore the liquid contents are smoothly discharged through the opening 211.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 13, the liquid contents smoothly flow from a portion (b) of each guide 221 which is on the leading side to a portion (a) which is on the tailing side based on a midpoint (c) in the direction of the liquid contents flowing out. Thereby, the liquid contents can be prevented from being abruptly discharged.

FIGS. 14a and 14b are sectional views taken along line A-A of FIG. 12. The PET bottle 200 has a shape in which the widths of the plurality of guides 221 decrease towards the upper end thereof but are gradually increased towards the middle point of the bottle and do not change under the middle point of the bottle.

Here, FIG. 14a shows the case in which the number of guides 221 is eight, and FIG. 14b shows the case in which the number of guides 221 is four.

FIGS. 15a through 15d are views showing examples of the guides of the bottle according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15a illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 221 is formed only on the upper area of the body portion 220. FIG. 15b illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 221 is formed on the entirety of the body portion 220. FIG. 15c illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 221 is formed only on a portion or entirety of the lower area of the body portion 220. FIG. 15d illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 221 is formed on the entirety of the body portion 220 but the inner surface of the lower area thereof is planar.

FIGS. 16 and 17 are a perspective view and partial sectional views of the bottle to illustrate a curvature of the guide formed in the bottle according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the FIGS. 16 and 17, the width and depth of each guide 221 on the midpoint (b) of the body portion 220 may differ from those of the guide 221 on the upper area (a) of the body portion 220.

That it, the width and depth of the guide 221 on the upper area (a) of the body portion 220 are greater than those of the guide 221 at the midpoint (b) of the body portion 220. Thanks to this structure, when the bottle is tilted to pour the liquid contents, the contents can smoothly flow out of bottle and are thus prevented from being abruptly discharged.

FIG. 18 is of views illustrating a process of crushing the PET bottle 200 having angled guides 221 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The PET bottle 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is crushed and distorted by twisting and compressing along the plurality of guides 221 formed in the body portion 220 of the PET bottle 200. When a compressing force is applied to the PET bottle 200, the angled portion of the midpoint of each guide 221 having the shape of “>” or “<” is folded over along the length of the spiral pattern, thus making it possible to reduce the volume of the empty bottle. For this reason, empty bottles can be more easily collected. In the second embodiment, the PET bottle can be more easily crushed, compared to the first embodiment.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A bottle having a neck portion and a body portion for containing liquid contents therein, the body portion comprising:

a plurality of guides formed around at least partial area or an entire area of the body portion in a spiral pattern, the guides protruding inwards from an inner surface of the body portion to have convex shapes, so that the liquid contents are guided towards an opening of the neck portion while spirally revolving inside the body portion; and

at least one reinforcing wire provided in the plurality of guides to reinforce an upright strength of the body portion formed with the plurality of guides.

2. The bottle as set forth in claim 1, wherein when the guides are formed in the entire area of the body portion including an upper area and a lower area based on a midpoint of the body portion, an outer surface of the lower area of the body portion has an uneven surface formed by the guides, and an inner surface of the lower area thereof has a planar shape.

3. The bottle as set forth in claim 1, wherein the convex shape of each of the guides is streamlined or angled.

4. The bottle as set forth in claim 3, wherein

when the convex shape of each of the guides is streamlined,

a cross-section of the guide protruding inwards from the inner surface of the body portion has a shape of a letter “C” or a reversed letter “C”, wherein a curvature of the guide is uniform or changes in a manner such that a curvature of a leading portion thereof is smaller than a curvature of a tailing portion with respect to a direction in which the liquid contents are discharged, and the guide spirals in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

5. The bottle as set forth in claim 3, wherein

when the convex shape of each of the guides is angled,

a cross-section of the guide has an angled shape of “>” or “<”, and the guide spirals in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

6. The bottle as set forth in claim 1, wherein the reinforcing wire extends in direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the body portion formed with the plurality of guides or in a direction inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion.

7. The bottle as set forth in claim 6, wherein the reinforcing wire comprises a plurality of reinforcing wires each of which is shorter than the body portion formed with the plurality of guides, wherein the reinforcing wires are discontinuous.

8. The bottle as set forth in claim 6, wherein a cross-section of the reinforcing wire has a square shape, a rectangular shape, a semicircular shape or a triangular shape such that a width thereof is reduced from a side contacting the guides to a side protruding inwards from the guides.

9. The bottle as set forth in claim 8 comprising a paper bottle, a PET bottle, a metal bottle or a glass bottle.

10. The bottle as set forth in claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of guides is configured such that a width thereof in the lower area of the body portion is greater than a width thereof in the upper area of the body portion, and

a depth of the guide in the upper area of the body portion is greater than a depth thereof in the lower area of the body portion.

11. The bottle as set forth in claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of guides has a uniform width in the upper area and the lower area of the body portion, and

a depth of the guide in the upper area of the body portion is greater than a depth thereof in the lower area of the body portion.

12. The bottle as set forth in claim 2, wherein the reinforcing wire extends in direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the body portion formed with the plurality of guides or in a direction inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion.

13. The bottle as set forth in claim 3, wherein the reinforcing wire extends in direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the body portion formed with the plurality of guides or in a direction inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion.

14. The bottle as set forth in claim 4, wherein the reinforcing wire extends in direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the body portion formed with the plurality of guides or in a direction inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion.

15. The bottle as set forth in claim 5, wherein the reinforcing wire extends in direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the body portion formed with the plurality of guides or in a direction inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body portion.