Blow-Molded Plastic Bottle and Method of Manufacture
A plastic bottle includes an expanded blow-molding preform of plastic film. The expanded preform has a base configured to support the bottle in a free-standing upright position, a neck containing a fitment, and seams including only a single full-height seam extending from the base to the neck.
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This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/813,216 filed Jun. 10, 2010, which is incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThis technology includes a plastic bottle that is formed by blow-molding a preform of plastic film into the shape of a bottle.
BACKGROUNDPlastic bottles can be formed from plastic film. One or more elongated webs of the plastic film are unrolled from spools, and are severed into panels that are folded and seamed together to form structures known as a preforms. Each preform corresponds to an individual bottle. A fitment may be installed in the neck of a preform to provide a spout, but the preform has a generally flat shape defined by the flat panels of plastic film. The preform is then placed inside a blow-molding cavity that has the shape of the bottle, and is expanded under fluid pressure inside the cavity. This deflects the flat sections of plastic film into the shape of the bottle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA plastic bottle includes an expanded blow-molding preform of plastic film. The expanded preform has a base configured to support the bottle in a free-standing upright position, a neck containing a fitment, and seams including only a single full height seam extending from the base to the neck.
In a method of manufacturing the bottle, an elongated web of plastic film is folded and sealed into a four panel configuration that enables the finished bottle to have only the single full height seam. Specifically, the four panel configuration includes a front panel with right and left side edges, a back panel with right and left side edges, and a pair of gusset panels extending transversely inward from the front and back panels. A pair of folded corners join the gusset panels to the front and back panels along the right side edges. Another folded corner joins the gusset panels together. The left side edges of the front and back panels are joined together by a longitudinally extending seam. With folded corners instead of seams at each other longitudinal juncture of panels, the seam at the left side edges is the only longitudinal seam extending the full length of the four panel configuration.
When the web has been folded into the four panel configuration, a fitment is installed between forward ends of the panels. Rear ends of the panels are sealed together across the folded web. The web is then severed to obtain a blow-molding preform in the four panel configuration with a closed rear end, the fitment at a forward end, the gusset panels extending transversely inward along a right side of the preform, and the single full length seam at left side of the preform.
The preform is expanded under fluid pressure in a blow-molding cavity. The fluid pressure turns the gusset panels outward, and deflects the rear end into a base configured to support the expanded preform in a free-standing upright position.
A plastic bottle 10 is shown in
As further shown in
The base 18 of the body 12, as shown in
The body 12 of the bottle 10 is formed of plastic film. As shown in
When the web 100 has the four panel configuration, as shown separately in
In the next step of the process, a seaming press 140 (shown schematically in
The seaming press 140 also forms top seams 52 on the trailing section 146 of the web 100. As shown in
The fitment 14 is inserted in the trailing section 146 of the web 100 as shown in
In the following step, the clamps 160 pull the web 100 downward so that the prior trailing section 146 becomes the next leading section 144, as shown in
The bottle 10 of
The fluid pressure turns the gusset panels 114 outward, and presses them against an opposed inner surface 180 of the mold cavity 175. The inner surface 180 has an undulating vertical profile for the handgrip 20 at the right hand side 22 of the body 12. The inner surface 180 also has a non-circular, concave horizontal profile for the right vertex 43 (
Deflection of the panels 110, 112 and 114 outward within the mold cavity 175 draws the lower end portions of the panels 110, 112 and 114 upward to form the base 18 of the body 12. Importantly, the fluid pressure also presses the projecting sections of the side and top seams 50 and 52 outward against the opposed mold cavity surfaces. This folds those seams 50 and 52 inward to lie flat against an adjoining outer surface of the body 12.
The schematic view of
A pair of rollers 210, one of which is shown in
A web 224 of plastic film extends from a spool 226 to the tube 202. The web 224 is guided over the outside of the tube 202 so that a section 228 of the web 224 is wrapped around, and extends downward over, the tube 202. That section of the web 224 is thus shaped as a cylinder with a circular cross-section centered on the vertical axis 205, as shown in
The web 224 extends downward from the tube 202 past the first gusset finger 216, and through a nip between the rollers 210. Also shown schematically in
In operation of the apparatus 200, the bar sealer 204 moves radially inward against the overlapping edge portions 230 of the web 224 to form a longitudinally extending seam at which the overlapping edge portions 230 are joined together. The seaming press 240 then acts upon the web 224 to sever a section 246 from the web 224, and also to form seams extending across the web 224. As in the method described above, this step yields a completed blow-molding preform 248 at the leading section of the web 224. This step also forms top seams and a neck 250 at the trailing section of the web 224.
In the next step, the fitment insertion tool 208 is advanced downward through the tube 202 and into the newly formed neck 250 to install the next fitment 244. The rollers 210 are moved apart from each other, and the first gusset finger 216 is retracted, to provide clearance for the fitment insertion tool 208 to be inserted and retracted. Like the fitment 14 described above, the fitment 244 is off-center. Accordingly, the fitment insertion tool 208 is advanced and retracted through the cylindrical tube 202 along a linear path that is radially offset from the central axis 205.
When the next fitment 244 has been inserted, the neck sealer clamp 220 grasps the neck 250 containing the fitment 244, and pulls the web 224 downward so that the web 224 again takes the condition shown in
This written description sets forth the best mode of carrying out the invention, and describes the invention so as to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, by presenting examples of the elements recited in the claims. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples, which may be available either before or after the application filing date, are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they have equivalent elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
Claims
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a fitment; and
- an expanded blow-molding preform of plastic film having a base configured to support the expanded preform in a free-standing upright position, a neck containing the fitment, and seams including only a single full-height seam extending from the base to the neck.
2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the single full-height seam includes bonded layers of plastic film that are folded inward to lie flat against an adjacent outer surface of the expanded preform.
3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the expanded preform has front and back panels that face oppositely outward and are joined at the single full-height seam.
4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the expanded preform has a noncircular convex edge at which the single full-height seam defines a juncture between the front and back panels.
5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein the expanded preform has an additional edge with an undulating contour defining a handgrip.
6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the neck is off-center.
7. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the expanded preform has a cross-section with an oval periphery, and the single full-height seam is located at a vertex of the oval periphery.
8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein the expanded preform further has a handgrip portion with an undulating contour at an opposite vertex of the oval periphery.
9. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising a cap for closing the fitment and a laundry product contained in the expanded preform.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 14, 2013
Publication Date: Jun 20, 2013
Applicant: SMART BOTTLE, INC. (Asheville, NC)
Inventor: Smart Bottle, Inc. (Asheville, NC)
Application Number: 13/767,134
International Classification: B65D 1/02 (20060101); B65D 41/04 (20060101); B65D 1/44 (20060101);