VERY LIGHT BEVERAGE CONTAINER

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container for a liquid or viscous product, comprising a substantially ovoid or spherical container body having a diameter D1, and a neck having a diameter D2, said neck comprising a dispensing opening and means for allowing closing means to be attached thereto, D1 being greater than D2, said container being made out of semi-cristalline PET, the walls of said container body having a thickness inferior or equal to 100 μm at least in the middle-height region of said container. In a highly preferred embodiment of the invention, the container body comprises at least two opposite flat, substantially vertical, surfaces, and a flat, substantially horizontal, surface located opposite the neck and forming a bottom side.

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/090,953, filed May 22, 2008, which is a U.S. national stage filing of International Appl. No. PCT/EP06/067492, filed Oct. 17, 2006, which claims priority to European Patent Appl. No. 05109806, filed Oct. 20, 2005, the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a very light weight container for beverages.

Very light containers for beverages are known in the art that are made for example of a semi-cristalline polyethylene terephtalate (PET) for good transparency and processability properties. Such containers are typically blown from an injected preform.

Such very-light containers can have a wall thickness, at least in the middleheight region of the container body, inferior or equal to 100 μm. Such containers have been developped to be manufactured with a substantially lower amount of plastic material compared to containers of similar contents volume made out of “classic” processes. These light weight containers are therefore cheaper to produce, and are also particularly environment-friendly.

Such prior art very-light weight containers, described for example in International Patent Application WO 03/033361 A1 or WO 2005/04 7120 A1, are known to be of generally ovoid or spherical shape which provides for good ratio volume/weight.

However, such containers comprise several drawbacks: they are difficult to label, they are difficult to store and to pile in pallets for transportation.

More importantly, due to the generally ovoid shape, the sides of body of such containers are very flexible and a risk exists that once the container is open, the contents splashes outside when the consumer grabs the sides of said container. If the contents is a milk-based product, such splashing can be particularly inconvenient for the consumer.

SUMMARY

Therefore, a need exists for a very light weight container which solves the above-mentioned disadvantages.

The present invention addresses the problems set out above with a container for a liquid or viscous product, comprising a substantially ovoid or spherical container body having a diameter D1, and a neck having a diameter D2, said neck comprising a dispensing opening and means for allowing closing means to be attached thereto, D1 being greater than D2, said container being made out of semi-cristalline PET, the walls of said container body having a thickness inferior or equal to 100 μm at least in the middle-height region of said container.

According to the present invention, said container is characterized in that the container body comprises at least two flatten or embossed surfaces.

By “flatten or embossed” it is meant that the surfaces are either completely flat, or slightly convex or concave.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the container body comprises at least two opposite flat, substantially vertical, surfaces, and a flat, substantially horizontal, and forming a bottom side.

In a preferred embodiment, the neck is located on the surface symmetrically opposite to the bottom surface.

In an even more preferred embodiment of the invention, the neck is located shifted relative to the vertical axis of the container.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the container body comprises four flat, substantially vertical, surfaces that are opposite to one another by pairs.

Also preferably, said vertical surfaces are disks.

Adjacent flat vertical surfaces are preferably in contact which one another at least in one point, and/or the vertical flat surfaces are preferably in contact with said bottom flat side.

In a preferred embodiment, the vertical and horizontal flat surfaces have equal area.

Advantageously, the ratio of 01/02 is comprised between 1.2 to 15, preferably 2 to 5.

Also preferably, the bottom flat side comprises reinforcing ribs and/or grooves.

The content product can be selected from the group consisting of water-based or milk-based products.

Finally, the container according to the present invention has preferably a weight inferior or equal to 5 g, preferably 3 g, and a total contents volume of at least 25 cl.

The closing means of the container can be a peelable membrane sealed on the top end of the neck, or a screw cap with threads that cooperate with corresponding threads of the neck.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the description of the presently preferred embodiments which are set out below with reference to the drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective bottom view of a container according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective top view similar to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of of a container of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the same container;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the same container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIG. 1, the very-light weight container 1 according to the invention comprises a substantially spherical container body 2 having a diameter 01.

It further comprises a neck 3 having a diameter 02, said neck 3 comprising a dispensing opening 4 and means 5 for allowing closing means 6 to be attached thereto.

As shown in FIG. 2, the means 5 comprise a flat horizontal flange at the top portion of the neck 3. This flange 5 is adapted for receiving a peelable closing membrane (not represented in the drawing).

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the diameter 01 of the container body is greater than the diameter 02 of the neck 3. The ratio of 01/02 is about 4.

The container is made out of semi-cristalline PET. The walls of the container body have a thickness inferior or equal to 100 μm at least in the middle-height region 7 of said container. This container 1 is made by blowing a PET preform, that is itself made by an injection forming process.

According to the present invention, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the generally spherical container body 2 further comprises four opposite flat, disk-shaped, substantially vertical surfaces 8 that are opposite to one another by pairs. It further comprises a flat, substantially horizontal, surface 9 located opposite the neck 3 and forming a bottom side. The bottom flat side 9 comprises reinforcing grooves 10 to improve its rigidity, shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, adjacent flat vertical surfaces 8 are preferably in contact with one another along a contact line 11. Said vertical flat surfaces are also in contact with said bottom flat side at contact lines 12. The vertical 8 and horizontal 9 flat surfaces have equal area.

The content product can be selected from the group consisting of water-based or milk-based products.

Finally, the container according to the present invention has a weight of 2.9 g, and a total contents volume of 25 cl.

A splash test was conducted to compare the rigidity of the side walls of the container according to the present invention, and a similar container having an ovoid shape.

This test consisted in applying a transversal load to the handling zone of the bottle (filled but not closed), and then measuring the increase in liquid level. All measured containers had the same content volume.

For a contents volume of 25 cl, and a same transversal load, the measured level increase average results were as follows:

−48 mm for a classic ovoid bottle;

−35 mm for the container according to the invention.

These results illustrate how the flat surfaces in the container of the invention improve the resistance to transversal load, like the pressure that is applied by the hands of a consumer who grabs the said container.

Moreover, it was found that PET water containers let water pass through their walls. Such a water loss usually leads to more flexibility of the container walls as time passes. In the case of the present invention, the water loss remains the same as for a convention PET light weight container, however, the reinforcement of the transversal rigidity with flat surfaces compensates this increase in flexibility, which is obviously very convenient for the consumer, and further helps avoiding splashes when the container is open.

One of the advantages achieved by the present invention is that it also allows for easy labelling on standard labelling equipment, due to the flatness of the at least one side of the container body.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A container comprising:

a substantially oval or spherical container body having an outer diameter D1 and a wall thickness of not greater than 100 μm at least in a middle-height region of the container, the container body comprising at least four vertical flat surfaces that are disk-shaped, each of the vertical flat surfaces is opposite to another one of the vertical flat surfaces, and each of the vertical flat surfaces has a circumference that overlaps an adjacent one of the vertical flat surfaces on a first side of the circumference and overlaps another adjacent one of the vertical flat surfaces on a second side opposite to the first side; and

a neck having a diameter D2 and comprising a dispensing opening, D1 is greater than D2, the container is made from semi-crystalline PET, the ratio of D1/D2 is between 1.2 and 15.

2. The container of claim 1, wherein the container body comprises a horizontal flat surface that is disk-shaped.

3. The container of claim 2, wherein the neck is located symmetrically opposite to the horizontal flat surface.

4. The container of claim 3, wherein the neck is offset relative to a vertical axis of the container.

5. The container of claim 2, wherein the circumference of each of the vertical flat surfaces overlaps a circumference of the horizontal flat surface.

6. The container of claim 2, wherein the horizontal flat surface and each of the vertical flat surfaces have equal area relative to each other.

7. The container of claim 1, wherein the container has a weight of less than or equal to 5 g and a total contents volume of at least 25 cl.

8. The container of claim 1, comprising reinforcing ribs extending from the horizontal flat surface.

9. The container of claim 1, wherein the container comprises a liquid product.

10. The container of claim 9, wherein the liquid product is selected from the group consisting of a water-based product and a milk-based product.

11. The container of claim 1, wherein the ratio of D1/D2 is between 2 to 5.

12. The container of claim 1, wherein the weight of the container is less than or equal to 3 g.

13. The container of claim 1, wherein the total contents volume is 25 cl.

14. The container of claim 1, wherein the neck comprises a flange configured for a closing member to be attached thereto.

15. A container comprising:

a substantially oval or spherical container body having an outer diameter D1 and a wall thickness of not greater than 100 μm at least in a middle-height region of the container, the container body comprising at least four vertical flat surfaces that are disk-shaped, each of the vertical flat surfaces is opposite to another one of the vertical flat surfaces, and each of the vertical flat surfaces contacts two adjacent vertical flat surfaces; and

a neck having a diameter D2 and comprising a dispensing opening, D1 is greater than D2, the container is made from semi-crystalline PET, the ratio of D1/D2 is between 1.2 and 15.

16. A container comprising:

a substantially oval or spherical container body having an outer diameter D1 and a wall thickness of not greater than 100 μm at least in a middle-height region of the container, the container body comprising at least four vertical flat surfaces that are disk-shaped, each of the vertical flat surfaces is opposite to another one of the vertical flat surfaces, and each of the vertical flat surfaces has a circumference that comprises at least one point in common with the circumference of another vertical flat surface and at least one other point in common with the circumference of yet another vertical flat surface; and

a neck having a diameter D2 and comprising a dispensing opening, D1 is greater than D2, the container is made from semi-crystalline PET, the ratio of D1/D2 is between 1.2 and 15.