Collapsible bottle
A collapsible bottle is particularly useful as a beverage bottle such as a water bottle or soda bottle which can be collapsed after its contents are emptied in order to reduce its volume whereby the collapsed bottles take up less space in trash receptacles, recycling bins and so forth. Diagonal and typically spiraling grooves are formed in the bottle to facilitate its collapse. Visual indicators on the bottle are intended to suggest to the user the need to collapse the bottle. These visual indicators may include arrows. Fingertip indentations or other grip surfaces are typically provided for rotating the bottle to facilitate its collapse.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to collapsible bottles or containers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a collapsible bottle which utilizes spiraling grooves to facilitate its collapse. Specifically, the present invention relates to such a bottle which utilizes finger grips and rotational direction indicators which respectively facilitate and suggest twisting the bottle to its collapsed position.
2. Background Information
In recent years, the use of personal water bottles has increased tremendously. In North America, the sales of bottled water have nearly tripled from 1998 to 2006. Most of these bottles are formed of recyclable plastic commonly in the form of polyethylene terephthalate, which has the common abbreviations PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P. PET is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is commonly used in synthetic fibers and for various other purposes. PET is one of the most readily recycled plastic materials available. Water bottles and soda bottles which are typically formed of PET or the like are commonly recycled but also often simply thrown out. In either case, these bottles take up a substantial amount of space due to the volume of air within the bottle when it is discarded. Thus, it would be desirable to use a collapsible bottle in order to reduce the amount of volume taken up when collapsed and discarded, so that storage and transportation of the bottles would be substantially more efficient. By way of example, a standard curbside recycling box typically holds somewhere on the order of 15 to 18 or 20 of these personal sized, 500 ml bottles. If these bottles could be collapsed to provide a volume reduction on the order of 2.0 to 1 or 2.5 to 1, somewhere on the order of 40 to 50 of these bottles would be able to fit within the same recycling box.
There are a variety of collapsible bottles and other containers known in the art. One type of collapsible container utilizes a bellows type side wall which may be formed of concentric alternating ridges and grooves or helical ridges and grooves. Collapsible containers of this nature are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,084 granted to Davison, which discloses a double walled collapsible container, U.S. Pat. No. 2,899,110 granted to Parker and U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,755 granted to Pedulla, et al. Also along these lines, U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,576 granted to Torgrimson et al. discloses a collapsible container which has a side wall of the bellows type configuration and which is specifically configured as a mixing kit.
Many of the collapsible containers are configured to move between the erect or expanded position and the collapsed position. The latter category includes containers which have side walls formed of a material which is sufficiently resilient to itself cause the side wall to spring back all the way to the expanded position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,285 granted to Stewart-Stand discloses a collapsible container which utilizes a rubber or elastomeric side wall and also includes a cover and a base which are releasably connected to one another when the side wall is collapsed therebetween. U.S. Pat. No. 2,268,993 granted to Sanders discloses a collapsible container having a cylindrical side wall with a coil spring attached inside the side wall for the purpose of biasing the side wall to its expanded position. U.S. Pat. No. 2,723,779 granted to Parker et al. discloses a collapsible container which includes spiraling solid or channel type stiffening ribs which may facilitate the container returning to its expanded condition. The latter patent also provides an example of collapsible containers which are specifically configured when squeezed or collapsed to express the contents therefrom, wherein the contents are typically viscous or paste like materials such as whipped cream, cake topping or icing, peanut butter, ketchup and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,211 granted to Hollingsworth discloses a collapsible container wherein a portion of a side wall turns inside out to fold over on itself in order to move to the collapsed position. The prior art also includes metal cans which have grooved side walls such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,139,143 granted to Wiswell. A hydraulic or pneumatic press is used to collapse the metal can. While the prior art thus includes a variety of collapsible containers, there is still a need in the art for a collapsible bottle which can be manually collapsed and which provides strong visual indicators that the bottle should be collapsed after its use.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a collapsible plastic bottle comprising a plastic bottom wall; a plastic annular sidewall which has a top and a bottom, which circumscribes a vertical axis, which is connected at its bottom to the bottom wall and extends upwardly therefrom, and which has expanded and collapsed positions; an interior chamber defined by the bottom wall and sidewall; a top entrance opening of the interior chamber defined by the top of the sidewall; a plurality of diagonal grooves formed in the sidewall each having an upper end and a lower end; wherein the grooves facilitate movement of the sidewall from the expanded position to the collapsed position in response to a first manual force applied to the sidewall in a first rotational direction about the vertical axis to cause relative rotation between the top and bottom of the sidewall; and a visual indicator on the bottle suggestive of a need to apply the first manual rotational force.
A preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrated of the best mode in which Applicant contemplates applying the principles, is set forth in the following description and is shown in the drawings and is particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims.
Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONThe collapsible bottle of the present invention is generally shown at 10 in
Bottle 10 is most typically sized for the purpose of holding about 500 ml of liquid, such as water or a carbonated liquid or beverage. However, bottle 10 may also be configured in other sizes, such as the standard 1 liter, 1.5 liter, or 2 liter bottles. It may also be configured as a 12 ounce, 16 ounce, 24 ounce, 32 ounce, or other commonly sized beverage container. While the common 500 ml water bottles have relatively thin walls, the bottles which are used for carbonated beverages typically have walls which are somewhat thicker although still relatively thin, and must typically be configured to withstand up to 90 pounds per square inch internal pressure which can occur in the containment of such carbonated liquids.
Side wall 14 has a bottom 26 which serves as the bottom of bottle 10 and which is secured to the outer perimeter of bottom wall 12 and extends upwardly therefrom to a top 28 (
Bottom wall 12 and side wall 14 define therewithin an interior chamber 52 (
In accordance with several features of the invention, ten diagonal grooves 60A-J are formed in cylindrical section 32 of side wall 14, a lower set 62 of seven fingertip grips or indentations 64A-G are formed in side wall 14 adjacent bottom 26, and an upper set 66 of seven fingertip grips or indentations 68A-G are formed in tapered shoulder section 40 of side wall 14. Several visual rotation indicators or twist indicators are provided to suggest to the user that the upper and lower portions of bottle 10 should be rotated or twisted respectively in opposite directions about vertical axis X to effect the collapse of bottle 10. These visual rotational or twist indicators include indentations 64 and 68, a lower set of arrows 70 which are respectively associated with lower fingertip grips 64A-G, and an upper set of arrows 72 which are respectively associated with upper fingertip grips 68A-G. In the exemplary embodiment, each lower arrow 70 includes a substantially rectangular rear portion or tail and a forward triangular portion or head having a sharp V-shaped point or pointing tip 74 which points to the right as viewed from the side (
With primary reference to
Top and bottom ends 80 and 82 of each groove 60 define therebetween a vertical height H2 (
As shown in
A vertical cross section of bridge sections 78 and groove 60 is represented in
With primary reference to
A periphery transitional wall 108 which has a generally inverted U-shaped or inverted V-shaped configuration curves radially inwardly from leading edge 98 toward the left, from trailing edge 100 towards the right and from top corner 102 downwardly. Transitional wall 108 has a convexly curved outer surface which transitions to a recessed wall 110 which is recessed radially inwardly of the circular outer surfaces of bottom arcuate transition section 30 and the lower portion of lower cylindrical section 36. Recessed wall 110 has a right or leading surface 112 which serves as the primary fingertip gripping surface used to rotate the bottom end of the bottle about axis X. A portion of leading or gripping surface 112 is disposed directly to the right of tip 74 of arrow 70 whereby tip 74 points directly to said portion of gripping portion 112. Recessed wall 110 also includes trailing surface 114, a portion of which is to the left of arrow 70. Leading surface 112 faces radially outwardly and to the left toward trailing edge 100 and trailing surface 114 while trailing surface 114 faces radially outwardly and to the right toward leading edge 98 and leading surface 112.
Each adjacent pair of indentations 64 is circumferentially spaced by a respective generally triangular bridge section 116 which is part of transition section 30 and the lower portion of lower cylindrical side wall 36 and which is wider adjacent its top than its bottom. Each bridge section 116 extends circumferentially from the leading edge 98 of one indentation 64 to the trailing edge 100 of an adjacent indentation 64 and is secured to the respective leading and trailing portions of the periphery transition walls 108 bounding the respective adjacent pair of indentations 64. Each bridge section 116 extends upwardly from the leading and trailing bottom rounded corners 104 and 106 of an adjacent pair of indentations 64 upwardly to the corresponding top rounded corners 102 or tops 94 of the respective adjacent pair of indentations 64. The outer surfaces of bridge sections 116 form respective horizontal arcs of a common circle which is concentric about axis X.
As shown in
There are several aspects of indentations 64 which facilitate their use as visual rotation or twisting indicators in addition to providing the fingertip pushing surfaces to rotate the bottom of bottle 10. Each indentation 64 is not bilaterally symmetrical about a plane cutting through it in any direction (i.e., a vertical plane, a horizontal plane or otherwise). Thus, for instance, the upper half and lower half of each indentation 64 are different from one another and are not mirror images of one another. Likewise, the leading half and trailing half of each indentation 64 are different from one another and are not mirror images of one another. Leading edge 98 and trailing edge 100 angle upwardly at different angles and such that they are not mirror images of one another about a vertical plane. This is likewise true of the leading and trailing portions of transition wall 108. Leading and trailing surfaces 112 and 114 have different shapes as viewed from the side or as viewed from below. Surfaces 112 and 114 also angle radially differently, as discussed above. Other distinctions are also evident from the Figures.
Bottom 92 and top 94 of each indentation 64 defines therebetween its vertical height H5, which is substantially longer than width W1 of groove 60, typically twice or three times width W1. Height H5 is far less than vertical height H2 of grooves 60. Height H2 may easily be three, four or five times that of height H5. Height H5 in the exemplary embodiment is also greater than width W2 of bridge section 78. Each indentation 64 also has a width W3 as measured horizontally from left to right which in the exemplary embodiment is from adjacent bottom trailing corner 106 to leading edge 98. Width W3 in the exemplary embodiment is approximately the same as height H5 and thus has similar ratios with respect to width W1, width W2 and height H2.
With primary reference to
A generally triangular recessed bowl-shaped wall 136 is secured to and extends radially inwardly from periphery transition wall 134 and generally provides a substantially triangular concavely curved surface which bounds indentation 68 and curves radially inwardly from all portions of transition wall 134 to adjacent arrow 72, which projects radially outwardly therefrom, whereby arrow 72 is disposed within or bounds indentation 68. Wall 136 includes a leading fingertip gripping surface 138 at least a portion of which is disposed between corner 132 and tip 76 of arrow 72. Arrow 72 thus points directly toward said portion of surface 138. Wall 136 has a trailing surface a portion of which is behind arrow 72 and which angle less sharply radially than leading surface 138, as described above regarding leading and trailing surfaces 112 and 114 of indentations 64. While most of indentation 68 is disposed radially inward of the outer frustoconical surface of shoulder portion 40, a small leading portion adjacent leading surface 138 is disposed radially outwardly of said outer surface. This is due to the fact that the left or leading portion of indentation 68 is defined by an L-shaped or V-shaped ridge 140 which projects radially outwardly of the circular or frustoconical outer surface of shoulder section 40.
Ridge 140 includes an upper leg 142 which angles upwardly and to the right and includes the portion of transition wall 134 extending along upper leading edge 122. Ridge 140 also includes a lower leg 144 which angles downwardly and to the right and includes the portion of transition wall 134 which extends along lower leading edge 124. Legs 142 and 144 intersect at a rounded tip or point 146. Ridge 146 thus provides an additional visual rotation indicator or twist indicator inasmuch as it projects outwardly from the outer surface of section 40 and also includes rounded point 146 which points in the same rotational direction as arrows 72. In contrast, there is no such ridge extending along trailing edge 126 which projects radially outwardly from the outer surface of shoulder section 40.
Each adjacent pair of indentations 68 is circumferentially spaced from one another and joined to one another by a generally L-shaped bridge section 135 which defines respective portions of the frustoconical outer surface of shoulder section 40. Each bridge section 135 extends circumferentially from the trailing edge 126 of one indentation 68 to the upper and lower legs 142 and 144 of V-shaped ridge 140 of the adjacent indentation 68 and thus to adjacent upper and lower leading edges 122 and 124 of said adjacent indentation 68. As illustrated in
Like lower indentations 64, there are several aspects of upper indentations 68 which facilitate their use as visual rotation or twisting indicators in addition to providing the fingertip pushing surfaces to rotate the top of bottle 10. Each indentation 68 is not bilaterally symmetrical about a plane cutting through it in any direction (i.e., a vertical plane, a horizontal plane or otherwise). Thus, for instance, the upper half and lower half of each indentation 68 are different from one another and are not mirror images of one another. Likewise, the leading half and trailing half of each indentation 68 are different from one another and are not mirror images of one another. Each of upper and lower leading edges 122 and 124 and trailing edge 126 angle upwardly at different angles and such that they are not mirror images of one another about a vertical plane or any other plane. This likewise true of the leading and trailing portions of transition wall 134. Other distinctions are also evident from the Figures.
The collapsing operation of bottle 10 is now described with primary reference to
The positioning of the fingertips in the respective indentations is represented in
The counter rotating motion of the top and bottom of bottle 10 thus causes bottle 10 to begin collapsing as illustrated in
In the fully collapsed position shown in
Preferably, the ratio of the collapsed height H7 of side wall 14 to the expanded height H1 is preferably no greater than 0.50 and the more preferably no more than 0.45, 0.40, 0.35 or 0.30. The ratio of collapsed height H8 of grooves 60 or section 34 to the expanded height H2 thereof is preferably no more than 0.35 and even more preferably no more than 0.30, 0.25 or 0.20. The volume reduction of bottom 11 may be quite substantial, whether measured as the reduction the internal volume of interior chamber 52 or the external volume as defined by the entire outer surface of bottle 10. Preferably, the ratio of the collapsed volume to the expanded volume is no greater than 0.50 and more preferably no more than 0.45, 0.40, 0.35, 0.30 or 0.25.
As previously noted, the plastic material of which side wall 14 is formed does not have sufficient resilient characteristics to cause side wall 14 to move back to its fully expanded position although it may move toward the expanded position to a relatively limited degree. Inasmuch as the irregular creases 152 formed during the collapsing process are permanent, bottle 10 is incapable of returning to its original expanded configuration even if reverse rotational and axial forces are applied to the upper and lower portions of the bottle to stretch it out once again. That is, such forces may return bottle 10 to its fully expanded height, but would not be able to repair the deformation represented primarily by creases 152.
It is further noted that bottle 10 in the preferred embodiment is free of several aspects known in the prior art as discussed in the Background section of the present application. For example, bottle 10 does not include spring members such as coil springs or stiffening ribs which act as spring members capable of causing the side wall of the bottle to move from its collapsed position to its fully expanded position. In addition, bottle 10 preferably avoids the use of the bellows style helical grooves formed between helical folding sections such that each adjacent pair of grooves meets at a substantially pointed or V-shaped ridge. In addition, bottle 10 does not utilize a cover attached to the top of the collapsible side wall and a base connected to the bottom of the side wall wherein a latching mechanism releasably connects the cover and base to one another in the collapsed position by to hold the collapsed side wall therebetween so that upon release of the connection between the cover and base, the side wall may be expanded to its fully expanded position. Bottle 10 may also avoid the use of other prior art concepts the lack of which may distinguish the present invention and which Applicant reserves the right to subsequently claim.
In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed.
Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention is an example and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown or described.
In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed.
Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention are an example and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown or described.
Claims
1. A collapsible plastic bottle comprising:
- a plastic bottom wall;
- a plastic annular sidewall which has a top and a bottom, which circumscribes a vertical axis, which is connected at its bottom to the bottom wall and extends upwardly therefrom, and which has expanded and collapsed positions;
- an interior chamber defined by the bottom wall and sidewall;
- a top entrance opening of the interior chamber defined by the top of the sidewall;
- a plurality of diagonal grooves formed in the sidewall each having an upper end and a lower end; wherein the grooves facilitate movement of the sidewall from the expanded position to the collapsed position in response to a first manual force applied to the sidewall in a first rotational direction about the vertical axis to cause relative rotation between the top and bottom of the sidewall; and
- a visual indicator on the bottle suggestive of a need to apply the first manual rotational force.
2. The bottle of claim 1 wherein the visual indicator comprises a first arrow which is adjacent one of the top and bottom of the sidewall and which points in the first rotational direction.
3. The bottle of claim 2 wherein the visual indicator comprises a second arrow on the sidewall which is adjacent the other of the top and bottom of the sidewall and points in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction.
4. The bottle of claim 1 wherein the visual indicator comprises a set of circumferentially spaced fingertip indentations which are formed in the sidewall and sized to receive therein a fingertip.
5. The bottle of claim 4 wherein the fingertip indentations are disposed above the upper ends of the grooves.
6. The bottle of claim 4 wherein each groove has an elongated direction and a first width measured perpendicular to the elongated direction; and each fingertip indentation has a second width measured horizontally which is greater than the first width.
7. The bottle of claim 4 wherein each groove has an elongated direction and a first width measured perpendicular to the elongated direction; and each fingertip indentation has a height which is greater than the first width.
8. The bottle of claim 4 wherein each fingertip indentation has circumferentially spaced leading and trailing edges; each fingertip indentation is bounded by a leading surface which extends from adjacent the leading edge toward the trailing edge and against which the first manual force is to be applied; each fingertip indentation has a trailing surface which extends from adjacent the trailing edge toward the leading surface; and each leading surface extends radially inwardly adjacent the leading edge at a sharper angle than does the trailing surface adjacent the trailing edge.
9. The bottle of claim 4 wherein each fingertip indentation has a leading half and a trailing half which is different from the leading half.
10. The bottle of claim 1 wherein the visual indicator comprises a set of circumferentially spaced radially extending concavely curved fingertip grip surfaces on the sidewall.
11. The bottle of claim 10 wherein the sidewall adjacent its top comprises a shoulder section which tapers downwardly and outwardly; and the fingertip grip surfaces are disposed on the shoulder section.
12. The bottle of claim 11 wherein the sidewall adjacent its top comprises a neck section adapted for releasably attaching thereto a cap; and wherein the shoulder section tapers downwardly and outwardly from the neck section.
13. The bottle of claim 12 wherein the neck section comprises a threaded portion adapted for threadably engaging the cap.
14. The bottle of claim 1 wherein the visual indicator is disposed above the upper ends of the grooves.
15. The bottle of claim 1 wherein the sidewall adjacent its top comprises a shoulder section which tapers downwardly and outwardly; and the visual indicator is disposed on the shoulder section.
16. The bottle of claim 1 wherein the sidewall has a circular outer surface; and the visual indicator comprises a ridge projecting radially outwardly from the circular outer surface.
17. The bottle of claim 16 wherein the ridge is substantially V-shaped.
18. The bottle of claim 1 further comprising a label connected to the sidewall and covering a portion of the grooves.
19. The bottle of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of permanent irregular creases formed in the sidewall in response to movement of the sidewall from the expanded position to the collapsed position.
20. The bottle of claim 1 further comprising a cap which is removably attached to the sidewall and forms an airtight and watertight seal therewith between the interior chamber and atmosphere external to the bottle.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 25, 2008
Publication Date: Mar 25, 2010
Inventor: Robert G. Dickie (King City)
Application Number: 12/284,843
International Classification: B65D 85/00 (20060101);