CA1130521A - Plastic package - Google Patents
Plastic packageInfo
- Publication number
- CA1130521A CA1130521A CA326,169A CA326169A CA1130521A CA 1130521 A CA1130521 A CA 1130521A CA 326169 A CA326169 A CA 326169A CA 1130521 A CA1130521 A CA 1130521A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- bottle
- label
- base
- package
- sidewall
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
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- Details Of Rigid Or Semi-Rigid Containers (AREA)
Abstract
PLASTIC PACKAGE
Abstract of the Disclosure A package is provided comprising an uprightly unstable thermoplastic bottle having a generally convex bottom and a peripheral sidewall extending upwardly therefrom and a base directly contacting and loosely supporting the bottle in an upright position the package further comprises pre-decorated heat shrunk annular label means in tight unitizing peripheral engagement with externally exposed surfaces of the base and sidewall for securely and integrally attaching said bottle and said base, the means being substantially the sole means for such attachment.
Abstract of the Disclosure A package is provided comprising an uprightly unstable thermoplastic bottle having a generally convex bottom and a peripheral sidewall extending upwardly therefrom and a base directly contacting and loosely supporting the bottle in an upright position the package further comprises pre-decorated heat shrunk annular label means in tight unitizing peripheral engagement with externally exposed surfaces of the base and sidewall for securely and integrally attaching said bottle and said base, the means being substantially the sole means for such attachment.
Description
t Related Appli~akion . .
. ~ I - ~ This~application is rela~ed ~o German .
Offenleg~l~as~chrif~ 2,731,635.:
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¦~ ~he In~ention. ..
:~, .. ., ¦ The present invention relates to composite pac~ages for containing ~ri~us products including comestiklès and I! pressurized fluids; more particularly the invention relates O ~ ¦i to a composite package comprised of an uprightly unstable !~ boktle having a separate support base or cup with the bo~tle ¦, and ba~e being attached by means of a heat shrunk pre-3 . ' decoraked sleeve.
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. ~ I - ~ This~application is rela~ed ~o German .
Offenleg~l~as~chrif~ 2,731,635.:
I ...,' ' ' .' ' .
¦~ ~he In~ention. ..
:~, .. ., ¦ The present invention relates to composite pac~ages for containing ~ri~us products including comestiklès and I! pressurized fluids; more particularly the invention relates O ~ ¦i to a composite package comprised of an uprightly unstable !~ boktle having a separate support base or cup with the bo~tle ¦, and ba~e being attached by means of a heat shrunk pre-3 . ' decoraked sleeve.
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2 8 Biaxially oriented thermoplastic bottle~ are ~, ;
receiving much attention as candidates to replace glass bo.tles~
. presently being used to contain carbonated soft drinks, beer, aerosols and the like The thermoplastics from which these ~;, . bottles are made and which are receiving most wide acceptance are the polyesters~ for example polyesters comprised of the polymeric reaction product o~' ethylene glycol (including it;s esters) and terephthalate acid (including its esters) as I well as the so-called high nitrile polymers. The latter '10 I polyrners are generally ref'erred to in the trade as Lopac or ¦ Barex materials. In oraer to increase the strength quali.ty i of such bottles and to maximize production e~ficiencies and, from an overall point of view, to make khese bottles more I economically competitive with glass .it has been found L5 j necessar~ to form such bottles with a convex bottom portion, ¦ ûbvlously this convex bottom portion creates an uns-table bottle ~:~ and hence there is a need to support the bottle and, in that respect.~ various types ot' support bases are integrally and ~' ! securely attached to the bottle. Exemplax~- o~ such bottles 0 ¦ with their support bases are those set forth in U. S. Patent Nos. 3,722,725, ~.,9L18,40~, 3,726,429 and 3,927,7829 Another such support baee which is securely attached to these bottles is that set for1;h in.u. S. Patent 4,082,200.
As ~ill be ~5 I appreciated from these patents, . extensive capital investment is required to provid 1~ f'or an appropriate commercial assembly device whe.reby the -8 1' bases are secured to the bottles. ThiSJ plus the àirect cost, ... .. .
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1 j in assem'~ling the base to the bottle is re~lected in increased j prices to the ultimate consumer which adversely affects the ! competi~iveness o~ such packages with glass. Additionally in ¦ packages of the type described above in spite o~ precautions ~5 ¦ and e~forts to solve the problem a situation arises wherein , the area~ or volume, between the internal surface of base and ¦! the e~ternal sur~ace of the bottle is in*estation prone Tha~
~ ¦ is in spite of attemp~s to provide for a tight reliable seal .: ¦ o~ the base to the bottle to preclude infestation it has not ~10 ¦ been commercially and economically possible to xeliably do this and hence dirt~ liquids, such as for example syrups, j water, warehouse insects, and the like gain entry into the above-re~erred to zone and cause the occurrence of mould and ~` ! even the formation of obnoxious odors; this, obviously, is I unsatisfactory~ Additionally because of such seepage or en~ry .~ ¦ into the zone washing of the containers is not suitably ; I practiced since it simply enhances the problem ox else drain ~ ;
~`~ ! holes must be provided in the base, ~he latter approach, while .. solving one problem~ only creates another. . :.
O~ ¦ In the above-referred rela-te~ German OLS
` ! 2,731,635-, - . .
the problem o~ infestation is ~ocused upon and is :
solved by employing a heat shrunk annular pre-decorated sleeve label to preclude entrant o~ con~aminants between the base and the bottle. Un~ortunately, however, while -tha~
'~9 1~ related application has many bene~its it is still subject to i; i the problem -that in the mass production of such packages the I :
IB ¦ step must still be practiced ~?herein the base is securely ~`', j' ! .
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receiving much attention as candidates to replace glass bo.tles~
. presently being used to contain carbonated soft drinks, beer, aerosols and the like The thermoplastics from which these ~;, . bottles are made and which are receiving most wide acceptance are the polyesters~ for example polyesters comprised of the polymeric reaction product o~' ethylene glycol (including it;s esters) and terephthalate acid (including its esters) as I well as the so-called high nitrile polymers. The latter '10 I polyrners are generally ref'erred to in the trade as Lopac or ¦ Barex materials. In oraer to increase the strength quali.ty i of such bottles and to maximize production e~ficiencies and, from an overall point of view, to make khese bottles more I economically competitive with glass .it has been found L5 j necessar~ to form such bottles with a convex bottom portion, ¦ ûbvlously this convex bottom portion creates an uns-table bottle ~:~ and hence there is a need to support the bottle and, in that respect.~ various types ot' support bases are integrally and ~' ! securely attached to the bottle. Exemplax~- o~ such bottles 0 ¦ with their support bases are those set forth in U. S. Patent Nos. 3,722,725, ~.,9L18,40~, 3,726,429 and 3,927,7829 Another such support baee which is securely attached to these bottles is that set for1;h in.u. S. Patent 4,082,200.
As ~ill be ~5 I appreciated from these patents, . extensive capital investment is required to provid 1~ f'or an appropriate commercial assembly device whe.reby the -8 1' bases are secured to the bottles. ThiSJ plus the àirect cost, ... .. .
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1 j in assem'~ling the base to the bottle is re~lected in increased j prices to the ultimate consumer which adversely affects the ! competi~iveness o~ such packages with glass. Additionally in ¦ packages of the type described above in spite o~ precautions ~5 ¦ and e~forts to solve the problem a situation arises wherein , the area~ or volume, between the internal surface of base and ¦! the e~ternal sur~ace of the bottle is in*estation prone Tha~
~ ¦ is in spite of attemp~s to provide for a tight reliable seal .: ¦ o~ the base to the bottle to preclude infestation it has not ~10 ¦ been commercially and economically possible to xeliably do this and hence dirt~ liquids, such as for example syrups, j water, warehouse insects, and the like gain entry into the above-re~erred to zone and cause the occurrence of mould and ~` ! even the formation of obnoxious odors; this, obviously, is I unsatisfactory~ Additionally because of such seepage or en~ry .~ ¦ into the zone washing of the containers is not suitably ; I practiced since it simply enhances the problem ox else drain ~ ;
~`~ ! holes must be provided in the base, ~he latter approach, while .. solving one problem~ only creates another. . :.
O~ ¦ In the above-referred rela-te~ German OLS
` ! 2,731,635-, - . .
the problem o~ infestation is ~ocused upon and is :
solved by employing a heat shrunk annular pre-decorated sleeve label to preclude entrant o~ con~aminants between the base and the bottle. Un~ortunately, however, while -tha~
'~9 1~ related application has many bene~its it is still subject to i; i the problem -that in the mass production of such packages the I :
IB ¦ step must still be practiced ~?herein the base is securely ~`', j' ! .
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A-.L43~8--Cil 1 l; attached to the bott:le prior -to positioninrr a i-lc~at shrinka'ole ¦~ pxe-decorated sleeve labe:L about the bottle and base which sleeve label :is i;hen heated to bring it into heat shrunk engagement with the bottle and base. In order~ of' course, to I provide ~or the secure attachment oE the base to the bottle those respective members are provided wi-th complex con~iguratio11s to provide ~or the inter-engagement o~ elements o~ these two members which will result in the secure attachment. This o~
I course requires complex mold designs which :in turn adversely a~fects costs of manuf'acturing and the abili-ty of such packages to economically compete with glass. That is -the m~lds which are employed to ~orm t'he bottles are expensive because of the con~iguration ~hich must be prov:ided to the bottle~
; 1 likewise injection molding techniques have been employed to ¦ produce the supporting base since this base ~ypically requires a configuration which is most suitably ~ormed by such injection molding techni~ues. The latter o~ course has its economic and competitive de~iciencies~
~n accordance wi-th ~he presen-t inven~ion an improve-I ment is pxovided which will allow the packages o~ the genera'l i type referred to above to be produced a~ much lower costs and ; thereby to be more economically com~eti-tive with glass. Such 1 packages are supplied with a pre-decorated label and hence ¦ the additional step of providing a label on the bottle, l typically done by -the bo-~-tler~ is no-t necessary~ hence also ; reducing cost and, ~urthermore, the above-referred ~o 27 l( in~esta-tion problem will not exist. The above advantages are I
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A-.L43~8--Cil 1 l; attached to the bott:le prior -to positioninrr a i-lc~at shrinka'ole ¦~ pxe-decorated sleeve labe:L about the bottle and base which sleeve label :is i;hen heated to bring it into heat shrunk engagement with the bottle and base. In order~ of' course, to I provide ~or the secure attachment oE the base to the bottle those respective members are provided wi-th complex con~iguratio11s to provide ~or the inter-engagement o~ elements o~ these two members which will result in the secure attachment. This o~
I course requires complex mold designs which :in turn adversely a~fects costs of manuf'acturing and the abili-ty of such packages to economically compete with glass. That is -the m~lds which are employed to ~orm t'he bottles are expensive because of the con~iguration ~hich must be prov:ided to the bottle~
; 1 likewise injection molding techniques have been employed to ¦ produce the supporting base since this base ~ypically requires a configuration which is most suitably ~ormed by such injection molding techni~ues. The latter o~ course has its economic and competitive de~iciencies~
~n accordance wi-th ~he presen-t inven~ion an improve-I ment is pxovided which will allow the packages o~ the genera'l i type referred to above to be produced a~ much lower costs and ; thereby to be more economically com~eti-tive with glass. Such 1 packages are supplied with a pre-decorated label and hence ¦ the additional step of providing a label on the bottle, l typically done by -the bo-~-tler~ is no-t necessary~ hence also ; reducing cost and, ~urthermore, the above-referred ~o 27 l( in~esta-tion problem will not exist. The above advantages are I
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:1 : a'~tained by employing a heat shrin~able pre-decor~t~d ann~lar ¦. label o~ the type set forth in related Ger~an : ¦l OLS 2,73i,635 as ¦ substantially the sole means ~or attaching the base and ~he 1 ~ottle. That is, ~he bottle ancl base elements o~ the assembly ¦
' are now so designed so that the base loosely supports the bottle and then the heat shrinkable pre-decorated sleeve is :~ employed as substantially the sole means to secure ~he base ~ f to the bottle in a unitized fashion This approach allows for .LO molds to be employed ~or the bottle which are produced ~nuch ¦ ~ore cheaply because the complex configurations of the prior art are not needed to provide for secure inter-engagement o~ ¦ :
the bottle with the base. Similarly, the base pc>rtions can ! be more cheaply manu~actured ~or example by simpler, cheaper. .`
.5 ~oxming techniques like vacuum ~orming a sheet because-~hey ¦ are o~ a simpler con~iguration inasmuch as they no longer need ..
be provided with complex con~igurations for inter-engagement ¦
. with the configuration o~ the bot-tles to provide ~or the secure ~: ¦ attachment......................................................... ~ :~
In accordance with the present invention and unlike .
the prior art referred to above the bottle supportîng base . --,~ ana a thermoplas-tic bo~tle which is uprightly unstable need ; ~ only be so configured that the base loosely supports the bottle ~:~
¦ in an upright position and there is no need~ discountîng the f~3 ¦ heat shrunk pre-decora~ed label, to provide for the secure attachment of the base to the bottle, in this way less complex . , assembly machinery is needed s:ince all that is re~uired is that ,~ , 1 ! the base loosely support the bottle in an uprightly stable !
i I position; this in ~urn will allow ~or more expedien-t and .
cheaper production.
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1 , As ~lill be appa~ent by ref~erence to the above pa~ents, - jj the supporting base and bottle ~re in secure telescopic coaxial relationship and once assembled ~ .
, the axis of the bottle cannot be conveniently inclined wi~h ¦ respect to the-axis of the base nor is the base easily '~ !! separated ~rom the bottle. In short they are designed to be i securely attached so as to withstand the rigor of commercial ~ acceptance e.g.~ being able to pass through a bottler's plant ¦ and being used by consumers. Thus as contemplated herein ~Jhen L0 I reference is made to the bottle being loosely supported by, or ¦ loosely positioned upon, a base~ or ~hat the base loosely ¦' supports the bottle, or the like~ there is contemplated situations wherein~ unlike the above,'the axis of the bottle ~ ;
I can be easily inclined with respect to the axis of the base or, ;~ ¦ and again unlike 'the above-xeferred to patents, and ¦ applications~ the base and the bottle can be easily separated by xelative axial movement of those members and, but for and discounting ~he sleeve label~ the base and bottle per se cannot wi~hstand the rig~r of commercial acceptance.
I U. S. Patent No. 3,~82,724, and its parent ¦ application U. S. Pate~t No. 3,372,826, discloses a glass ¦ container having a convex bottom and a base there~or which ~' base may be applied by heat shrinking.
j ¦ U. S. Patent No. 3,002,640 discloses a ~oamed ;~ ~ polystyrene sleeve, which may have a printing thereon, about ~ragile articles such as~ for example, glass or eggs. The sleeve is applied by slipping over the article~ or by stretching it over to provide a snug fit, or by heating ~
'~ ~' expand the thic~ness.
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1 ; U. S~ Patent ~o ~,51~2~229 disclose~ the application o~ a shrunk-on band, which may include a decora~ion~ O:e a stretchab:le heat shrinkable film material~ for exarnple polyvinyl . ~ chloride film, onto a thermoplastic bottle; the ends o~ the ~, band may be ~oined by gluing, sealing, or welding.
U. S. Patent No. 3,677,774 is directed to the i ~ormation of a multi-pack of plural bottles, ~or example ¦ polyvinyl chloride bo-ttles, which have a sleeve and which pack o~ plural bottles are in a heat sealed envelope; the envelope .
contacts only part of the respect:ive containers, i.e. the envelope does not periphera.lly con-tact the bottle and/or sleeve9 and contains pressurlzed carbon dio~ide.
U. S. Patent No. ~ 62,327 discloses an uprightly I stable bottle, a foamed polystyrene receptacle member .
~l encircling the bottle,a shrunk~on skin o~ vi.nyl, which can be ¦ seamed, surrounas the receptacle member, and a base which is welded to the shrunk-on skin. . .
l U. S. Patent No. 3,955,020 discloses a self supportirlg ¦ uprightly stable glass container having a plastic film and ¦ what is called a film cup placed over the heel o~ the contai.ner U. S. Patent No. 3,912,100 discloses an uprightl.y stable glass . . bottle having a bottom ~ilm covering and a heat shrunk sleeve I ~ contac~ing the film and glass surface. U. S. Patent No.
. ~ 3,698~586 discloses an uprightly stable glass container having .25 j a heat shrunk cup on its bottom and a plastic ~ilm~ which may : I be a heat shrinkable plastic sleeve, covering the glass 27 !~ container above the cup. .
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1 As will ~e rea.di:Ly apparent~ none ~:r' the I'ore~,o:ing i patents describe the present :invention and represent on'Ly isolated disclosures which are not directed to solving the 1 problem solved by applicant nor to satisf'ying the need ¦, satisfied by applican~.
1~ Thus, in accordance with this invention'there is !~ provided a pac~age comprising an uprightly unstable thermo- I
¦, plastic bottle having a generally conveY~ bottorn and a ¦~ peripheral sidewall extending upwardly therefrom, a pre~ormed ¦ base directly con-tacting and loosely suppor~ing said bottle ¦ in an upright position, and pre-decorated, heat shrunk, annular : I label means in tight uni-tizing peripheral engagement w:Lth externally exposed side surfaces of said base and sidewall for ¦
, securely and integrally attaching said bottle and base, said - 15 ¦ means being substantially the sole means for such attachment.
¦~ In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this ¦ invention the pre~ormed base which loosely supports the upright ly unstable bo-ttle includes a peripheral package support surface' and a generally tubular sidewall proceedin~ u.pwardly there- ¦
'20 !~ from wi~h the sidewall including a peripheral outwardly and ¦¦ upwardly extending ledge portion and wherein a portion of the' -1~ label means extends inwardly and downwardly in heat shrunk ¦l tight contact with the ledge.
~' l ln accordance with another preferred embodiment of 1l this invention the peripheral sidewall of the uprightly unstable , bottle, adjacent the bottom, includes an inwardly offset i sidewall portion and a portion of the tubular peripheral ~ sidewall on the base is in telescopic contact wi.th a portion 29 ~ of that inwardly oifset sidewall portion.
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1 i The present invent:ion w:i:ll be more apparent by re~erence to -the dra~ings wherein:
~ igure 1 is a side elevation view illus-trating the ¦! present invention;
¦~ ~igure 2 is a parkial sectional view more clearly 1~ showing the bot-tom portion o~ a package in accordance with ¦~ the presen~ invention;
Figure 3 illustrates the sleeve label used in I accordance with this invention; and ~ Figure 1~ is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating ¦ an alternate embodiment of this invention.
lnitially, in accordance with this invention, khere I is provided a heat shrinkable organic polymeric pre-decorated j sleeve label with khe label having a high hea-t shrinkage in ¦ the circum~erential direc-tio~ of the sleeve and a low heak ¦ shrinkage in the axial direction o:~ ~he sleeve. The sleeve is ¦ o~ su~ficien-t axial length so tha~ upon being heat shrunk it ¦ is brought into snug encircling engagement with the external ¦ sur~aces o~ the botkle and of the base and spans the upper ~ terminus o~ the base ko seal any opening between the botkle and~
the base immediately adjacent the upper terminus o~ the base. I
I Pre~erably the sleeve label comprises a heak shrinkable closed !
¦ cellular thermoplastic organlc polymer.
I Exemplary of suitable polymers are the polyole~ins, ' like polyethylene and polypropylene, and copolymers o~ ethylene . wi-th a:Lpha-beta monoethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids, i~ e.g. ~crylic or methacrylic acid~ or their alkyl esters~ e.g.
28 those containing 1-~ carbon a-toms in the alkyl group like ethyl `' :: , ,~ . .
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acrylate or copolymers of ethylene with vinyl es-ters, like vinyl acetate. In the foregoing the olefin moiety will be vastly predominant, i.e., in excess of about 60% by weight, desirably in excess of 70% and preferably in excess of about 80 or 90~. Exemplary of other sleeve lakels as con-templated herein are those cellular/non-cellular composite laminates as set forth in German OLS
2,539,843 and Belgian Patent 833,165 and British patent 1,526,424. Extremely outstanding results are obtained wherein the sleeve label comprises a closed cellular polystyrene, for example crystalline general purpose polystyrene having a weight average molecular weight on the order of about 100,000 to about 320,000 and with the label having a thickness of abou~ .005 to about .040 inches and a density of about 6 to about 40 pounds per cubic footO Out-standing results are obtained by employing such a closed cellular polystyrene sheet and producing the heat shrinkable sleeve i~l accordance wi-th the teach-ings of U.S. Patent No. 3,767,496. In accordance with the procedure of that patent a cellular tubular member is extruded from a circular die and is inflated as it issues from the die-head to provide for a cross, or trans-verse, stretching and orientation of the material and the inflated tukular m~mber is likewise stretched or drawn in the machine direction of extrusion _ to provide a machine direction orientation with both of these orientations being set by air cooling of the tubular me~ber. m e stretching and cooling produces an orientation which, in turn, results in the .
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~ L~2 1 capabili~;y oE'-the materlal to heat shr:in~ ~7hen subsequently . exposed to heat. The machine direction of heat shrinkage is high and the cross direction hea-t shrinkage will be low~ i.e.
I the ratio of the heat shrinkage in the mach-ine direction to ii the hea-t shrinkage in the cross direction will be greater than ¦
1 and, pre~erably, greater than 2:1 with quite desirable values ~ being tha-t the machine direction o:E' heat shrinkage is in excess ¦. of about 60% and the cross direc-tion of heat shrinkage is less ¦i than about 30% Outs-tanding results are obtained by ¦! suf~icien~ stretching to obtain a hea~ shrinkage in the machine !
¦ direc-tion of greater than 65% and a heat shrinkage in the ¦ cross direction of less than about 20%. The in~lated tubular I heat shrinkable material is then sli.t and trimmed to obtain a ¦ sheet o~ roll s-tock which sheet o~ roll-s-tock is decora-ted so li that the decoration reads properly in the machine direction o~ i ¦l extrusion. The decora-ted sheet is then~ in turn3 cut in-to -¦
¦' smaller rec-tilinear sheets and then formed in-to a sleeve type ¦¦ pre-decora~ed label by wrapping these sheets, on a mandrel, ~i' with the rnachine direction of extrusion corresponding to'the ¦-¦' circumferential direction of the sleeve to be formed and the ¦~ cross direction of extrusion corxesponding to the axial direction of` the to be ~ormed sleeve, and then bringing opposedj I ends together and joining them to :E-orm a sleeve with an axial ¦¦ seam therealon~ Preferably the opposed ends are brought into ¦! overlapped relationshlp and heat sealed ~o provide ~or a ' pre decora-ted sleeve label with an overlapped axially heat sealed seam. Whi:Le thus ~ar it has not been necessary to do 28 ' so, i~ employing a heat shrinkable pxe-decorated sleeve label , .
- :L:l -: ., . , ::.i : -3~5Zl A-:L1~32~3 - o 1 compr:is:l.ng a c:Losed cel:l.ular :Eo3lned po:Ly-c;-tyrene as desc:r:ibed j . above and emp:loying a biaxia:Lly oriented theImoplastic bo~tle 1, of an e-thylene glycol (:including its esters)-terephthalic acid ¦ (including its esters) reaction product. depending o~ the . speci-fic app:Lication and mater:La:ls employed it may be desirable, i to include pleats in the sleeve ~1hich ru~ paral:lel to the axial.
¦ seam. These plea-ts may be ~ormed in accordance with the teachings se-t ~orth :Ln U. S. Patent No. 3,951,292 ~hich i.s . I directed to a pilfer~proof, heat shrunk neckband for a glass container and closure.
¦ ~eferring now more particularly to the drawings it will be seen that essentially the packages contem~lated herein i include an uprightly unstable thermoplastic bottle generally designated 10~ a preformed base 50 directly contacting and ~ loosely supporting the bottle in an upright position, a pre-¦ decorated heat shurn~ annular label means~ or sleeve 60~ in i tight unitizing heat shrunk peripheral engagement with externally exposed side, or lateralg surfaces of ~he base and I bottle for securely and integrally ~ttaching bottle 10 and , base 50~ with the pre-decorated heat shrunk annular sleeve label 60 being substantially the sole means ~or the secure ¦ attachment o~ base 50 to bottle 10. As illustrated in Figure 1 I~ and Figure 2~ bottle 10 includes a peripheral sidewall 16 ¦! which merges with a convex bottom 18 and peripheral sidewall 16 i includes~ somewhat centrally located thereon, a peripheral gripping groove 22 and at i-ts upper margin a neck, or ~inish, portion 12 and disposed immediateLy below ~inish 12 a neck ,, support ledge 14~ Pre~erably bottle 10 will be a biaxially 29 ~ oriented poly(ethylene terephthalate) bottle :
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1~ , ,' 2 ~ c) 1 :L Pre~'ormed base 50 wh:ich loosely supports bottle 10 j is f'or3ned from a material having suf'~ic.ient rigidity and ' strength to suppor~ the bottle v.prightly i.n the cornpleted l.. package f'orm. This base may be formed by vacuum forming 1'~ techniques ~ro~ a sheet of a suitable organic polymer, pre:Ferably a thermoplas-tic polymer~ with an especially suitable !~ material being high dens.ity polyeth5~1ene A suitable thickness.
jl ~or base 50 will be a thickness of abou.t 0.025 inch~ ~ase 50 ¦ includes a package support surface 56 and a generall~ tubular i pe.riphera:l sidewall proceeding upwardly there~rom. The generally tubular peripheral sidewall of base 50 includes a peripheral reentrant por-tion ~7 which is partially de~ined by a peripherai upwar~ly and outwardly extending :Ledge 58 Base 5d I is provided with a central portion 59 which merges with ~he ¦ package support sur~ace 56. As seen in Figure 2, in a pre~erre9 embodimentJ.convex botkom 18 o~ botkle 10 is supported on I central portion 59 of' base 50 and the internal sur~ace of the upwardly and outwardly extending ledge 58 also supports botkle . ¦ 10. Thus as will be appreciated from Figure 2 bot~le ~0 and Ij base 50 are brought into axial alignmenk with the base S
¦t lQosely supporting boktle 10. . .
i In order -to uni~ize base 50 and bottle 10 and to !l securely attach these elements there is khen employed a hea~
. - 1, shrinkable pre-decorated sleeve or label generally design2ted !~ 60 as more clearly seen in Figure 3 This sleeve is ~ormed in the manner previously described and includes a decoration 62 j~ thereon and an axial seam 61~, pre~erably a heat sealed over-~l lapped seam. Decoration 62 in khe usual embodiment will 29 l either be conti.nuous about sleeve 60 over 360; or it will be ., ' , . .
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1 o~' a repeat:ing patke~n about the c.irc~l~nf'ere~lce of' ~he s:l.ee-~e, ~or convenience decora,tion 62 i.s not, illustrated in the other . figures but i-t TJill of course be apparent that such decoration ~i will be present. Generally~ it will be pre~erred to produce ¦! the pre-decora-ted heat shrinkable sleeve in a slightly 1~ elliptical configuration suc'h that the minor axis thereof'~
¦, be suf~iciently small so that as it :is positioned about bottle.!
10 and base 50 -to encircle externally disposed sur~aces o~
I bottle 10 and base 50 the sleeve will be held thereon by ¦ fric~ional engagement until such time as ~he package .LS
j subjected to heat at a tempera-ture and for a time su~icient ¦ to bring the heat shrinkable pre-decorated sleeve label into ¦ heat shrunk snug engagement with externally exposed surfaces .
i o~ bottle 10 and base 50. The axial height of sleeve 60 will ~ usually be so selected that~ upon shrinkage~ its upper terminus t will be located in the lower two thirds o~. the axial height of .- I the package and usually its lower terminus will be disposed ¦ slightly v.pwardly o~ the package support sur~ace 56 of base 50, ! A~ditionally, usually the axial height o:~ bzse 50 will be so : 20 1¦ selected that its upper terminus wi.ll generally be in the lower 1/~ o~ the axial heigh~ of the package. Thus~ a-~tex the , , bottle,10 and bas,e 50 have been encircled ~ithin the sleeve : 1¦ label~ base 50 and bottle 10 are securely and integrally ¦~ attached by hea-t shrinking the sleeve to bring into peripheral ~ engagemen~ wi-th lateral sur~ace portions o~ base 50 adjacen-t ,' its upper termînus-. Usually this is done by chucking the i' bottle by its neck and rota-ting it and applying ho-t air to 28 l~ heat shrinkable sleeve label 60. While the heating cycle~ l.e"~
, .
., 3Li30$i2~
~s- L1~2 :L the temperature and time, ~lill vary ~Jith various materiQls, caution should be exercised when employing a biaxially oriented Ij thermoplastic bottle so tha-t the heating is insuf~icient to ! cause any substan-tial deformation o~ the bottle. ~s an example, ¦ ~hen employing a biaxially oriented polytethylene terephthalate) bo-ttle lO and a sleeve ~hich has been ~ormed in the manner ¦ described above ~rom a closed cellular cxystalline gener&l ¦i purpose polystyrene having a density o~ about l~ pounds per li cuhic .~oot and a thickness of about 0~015 inches wlth a heat ! shrinkage in the circu~ferential direction o* the sleeve o.~
about 70% and an axial heat shrinkage o* about 10%, temperaturer-I on ~he order o~ abou-t 350F. *or about 6 seconds are ~ui-te ¦ suitable to obtain outstanding resul-ts ~ As will be seen from Figure 2~ and generally in i Figure l~ upon being heat shrunk, sleeve 60 is brought into peripheral, snug~ non~ elded~ non-melted~ non-adhesively secured heat~shrunk engagement with externally exposed sur~ace~s Il o~ peripheral sidewall 16 and the externally sxposed surfaces ¦l of the tubular peripheral sidewalI o~ base 50~ More speci~ically, jj it will be observed that upon heat shrinkage sleeve 60 shrinks !
¦i into contour con~orming engagement with reentran-t portion 57 I with ~he portion 66 of sleeve 60 immediately outwardly o~ ledge .~ i 58 proceeding inwardly and downwardly in heat shrunk engagement therewith~ thus greatly ~acilita-ting the gripping, secure il attach~ent o~ base 50 to bottle lO~ It will also be observed in Figure 2 -tha~ sleeve 60 upon heat shrinkage preclucles entry '. o* contaminants bet~1een base 50 and bottle lO since i-~ spans the upper -terminus o:~ base 50 and is heat shrunk against adJacent portions o~ the bottle and base, hence blocking an~r 30 - possible openings ~lhicn would allow contaminant access.
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1 Rei'er.r:i.ng no~l L;o T~'igure 4 1i~e nvrnera:Ls designate ¦' like features as set forth previously. As lsi:Ll be seen irl i , Figure ~ peripheral sidewall 16 adjacent bottom l$ inclwdes ~i an inwardly of~'set side~all portion 17. Additionally7 the ¦' upper margin of ledge 58 of base 50 merges ~ith an u.pper tubular peripheral sidewall portion 59 ~Ihich is generally vertically uprigh-t and which telescopically contacts the of~set sidewall portion ~7 o~ bottle 10. Preferably the thickness oi j upper tubular peripheral sidewall portion 59 is approximately ¦ equal to the di~erence between the radius ol o~fset portion ¦ 17 and the radius o~ the bottle sidewall irnmedia-tely adjacently ¦ upward of offset por-tion 17 D The procedure for forming the j ~inal package of ~'igure 4 is generally the same as that ,l indica-ted above, namely~ bot-tle 10 is ~elescopically and ! loosely posi-tioned within base 50, with the offse-t sidewall portion 17 being positioned inwardly of -the upper tubular peripheral sidewall por-tion 59 of base 50 and sleeve label 60 is then encirclingly applied about and heat shrun~ to bring it . I into snug~ peripheral, heat shrunk engagement with externally j exposed sur~aces o~ base 50 and bottle 10. One of the advantag~ s of the embodimen-t of Figure ~ is that the ex-ternal sur:~ace of the ~.pper portion o~ -tubular peripheral sidewall 59 is generally in vertical alignme~t~ or ~lush~ with -the externa~
j sur~ace of sidewall 16 immedia-tely above the o~set portion 17 , and, hence~ virtually no edges o~ the upper terminus of base ~' 50 are present which edges cov.ld provide potential contacting , points by which forces could be applied to dislodge the base 50j 28 ¦, from bottle 10.
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A~ 52~o 1 . 11hile ~he above sets :~orth the present :invention ~
, w:ill o~ course be apparent -~hat modi~ication is possible ~hich , pursuant to the patent statutes and laws does no~ depart ~rom -the spiri-t and scope o~ -~he present invention.
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:1 : a'~tained by employing a heat shrin~able pre-decor~t~d ann~lar ¦. label o~ the type set forth in related Ger~an : ¦l OLS 2,73i,635 as ¦ substantially the sole means ~or attaching the base and ~he 1 ~ottle. That is, ~he bottle ancl base elements o~ the assembly ¦
' are now so designed so that the base loosely supports the bottle and then the heat shrinkable pre-decorated sleeve is :~ employed as substantially the sole means to secure ~he base ~ f to the bottle in a unitized fashion This approach allows for .LO molds to be employed ~or the bottle which are produced ~nuch ¦ ~ore cheaply because the complex configurations of the prior art are not needed to provide for secure inter-engagement o~ ¦ :
the bottle with the base. Similarly, the base pc>rtions can ! be more cheaply manu~actured ~or example by simpler, cheaper. .`
.5 ~oxming techniques like vacuum ~orming a sheet because-~hey ¦ are o~ a simpler con~iguration inasmuch as they no longer need ..
be provided with complex con~igurations for inter-engagement ¦
. with the configuration o~ the bot-tles to provide ~or the secure ~: ¦ attachment......................................................... ~ :~
In accordance with the present invention and unlike .
the prior art referred to above the bottle supportîng base . --,~ ana a thermoplas-tic bo~tle which is uprightly unstable need ; ~ only be so configured that the base loosely supports the bottle ~:~
¦ in an upright position and there is no need~ discountîng the f~3 ¦ heat shrunk pre-decora~ed label, to provide for the secure attachment of the base to the bottle, in this way less complex . , assembly machinery is needed s:ince all that is re~uired is that ,~ , 1 ! the base loosely support the bottle in an uprightly stable !
i I position; this in ~urn will allow ~or more expedien-t and .
cheaper production.
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1 , As ~lill be appa~ent by ref~erence to the above pa~ents, - jj the supporting base and bottle ~re in secure telescopic coaxial relationship and once assembled ~ .
, the axis of the bottle cannot be conveniently inclined wi~h ¦ respect to the-axis of the base nor is the base easily '~ !! separated ~rom the bottle. In short they are designed to be i securely attached so as to withstand the rigor of commercial ~ acceptance e.g.~ being able to pass through a bottler's plant ¦ and being used by consumers. Thus as contemplated herein ~Jhen L0 I reference is made to the bottle being loosely supported by, or ¦ loosely positioned upon, a base~ or ~hat the base loosely ¦' supports the bottle, or the like~ there is contemplated situations wherein~ unlike the above,'the axis of the bottle ~ ;
I can be easily inclined with respect to the axis of the base or, ;~ ¦ and again unlike 'the above-xeferred to patents, and ¦ applications~ the base and the bottle can be easily separated by xelative axial movement of those members and, but for and discounting ~he sleeve label~ the base and bottle per se cannot wi~hstand the rig~r of commercial acceptance.
I U. S. Patent No. 3,~82,724, and its parent ¦ application U. S. Pate~t No. 3,372,826, discloses a glass ¦ container having a convex bottom and a base there~or which ~' base may be applied by heat shrinking.
j ¦ U. S. Patent No. 3,002,640 discloses a ~oamed ;~ ~ polystyrene sleeve, which may have a printing thereon, about ~ragile articles such as~ for example, glass or eggs. The sleeve is applied by slipping over the article~ or by stretching it over to provide a snug fit, or by heating ~
'~ ~' expand the thic~ness.
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1 ; U. S~ Patent ~o ~,51~2~229 disclose~ the application o~ a shrunk-on band, which may include a decora~ion~ O:e a stretchab:le heat shrinkable film material~ for exarnple polyvinyl . ~ chloride film, onto a thermoplastic bottle; the ends o~ the ~, band may be ~oined by gluing, sealing, or welding.
U. S. Patent No. 3,677,774 is directed to the i ~ormation of a multi-pack of plural bottles, ~or example ¦ polyvinyl chloride bo-ttles, which have a sleeve and which pack o~ plural bottles are in a heat sealed envelope; the envelope .
contacts only part of the respect:ive containers, i.e. the envelope does not periphera.lly con-tact the bottle and/or sleeve9 and contains pressurlzed carbon dio~ide.
U. S. Patent No. ~ 62,327 discloses an uprightly I stable bottle, a foamed polystyrene receptacle member .
~l encircling the bottle,a shrunk~on skin o~ vi.nyl, which can be ¦ seamed, surrounas the receptacle member, and a base which is welded to the shrunk-on skin. . .
l U. S. Patent No. 3,955,020 discloses a self supportirlg ¦ uprightly stable glass container having a plastic film and ¦ what is called a film cup placed over the heel o~ the contai.ner U. S. Patent No. 3,912,100 discloses an uprightl.y stable glass . . bottle having a bottom ~ilm covering and a heat shrunk sleeve I ~ contac~ing the film and glass surface. U. S. Patent No.
. ~ 3,698~586 discloses an uprightly stable glass container having .25 j a heat shrunk cup on its bottom and a plastic ~ilm~ which may : I be a heat shrinkable plastic sleeve, covering the glass 27 !~ container above the cup. .
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1 As will ~e rea.di:Ly apparent~ none ~:r' the I'ore~,o:ing i patents describe the present :invention and represent on'Ly isolated disclosures which are not directed to solving the 1 problem solved by applicant nor to satisf'ying the need ¦, satisfied by applican~.
1~ Thus, in accordance with this invention'there is !~ provided a pac~age comprising an uprightly unstable thermo- I
¦, plastic bottle having a generally conveY~ bottorn and a ¦~ peripheral sidewall extending upwardly therefrom, a pre~ormed ¦ base directly con-tacting and loosely suppor~ing said bottle ¦ in an upright position, and pre-decorated, heat shrunk, annular : I label means in tight uni-tizing peripheral engagement w:Lth externally exposed side surfaces of said base and sidewall for ¦
, securely and integrally attaching said bottle and base, said - 15 ¦ means being substantially the sole means for such attachment.
¦~ In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this ¦ invention the pre~ormed base which loosely supports the upright ly unstable bo-ttle includes a peripheral package support surface' and a generally tubular sidewall proceedin~ u.pwardly there- ¦
'20 !~ from wi~h the sidewall including a peripheral outwardly and ¦¦ upwardly extending ledge portion and wherein a portion of the' -1~ label means extends inwardly and downwardly in heat shrunk ¦l tight contact with the ledge.
~' l ln accordance with another preferred embodiment of 1l this invention the peripheral sidewall of the uprightly unstable , bottle, adjacent the bottom, includes an inwardly offset i sidewall portion and a portion of the tubular peripheral ~ sidewall on the base is in telescopic contact wi.th a portion 29 ~ of that inwardly oifset sidewall portion.
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1 i The present invent:ion w:i:ll be more apparent by re~erence to -the dra~ings wherein:
~ igure 1 is a side elevation view illus-trating the ¦! present invention;
¦~ ~igure 2 is a parkial sectional view more clearly 1~ showing the bot-tom portion o~ a package in accordance with ¦~ the presen~ invention;
Figure 3 illustrates the sleeve label used in I accordance with this invention; and ~ Figure 1~ is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating ¦ an alternate embodiment of this invention.
lnitially, in accordance with this invention, khere I is provided a heat shrinkable organic polymeric pre-decorated j sleeve label with khe label having a high hea-t shrinkage in ¦ the circum~erential direc-tio~ of the sleeve and a low heak ¦ shrinkage in the axial direction o:~ ~he sleeve. The sleeve is ¦ o~ su~ficien-t axial length so tha~ upon being heat shrunk it ¦ is brought into snug encircling engagement with the external ¦ sur~aces o~ the botkle and of the base and spans the upper ~ terminus o~ the base ko seal any opening between the botkle and~
the base immediately adjacent the upper terminus o~ the base. I
I Pre~erably the sleeve label comprises a heak shrinkable closed !
¦ cellular thermoplastic organlc polymer.
I Exemplary of suitable polymers are the polyole~ins, ' like polyethylene and polypropylene, and copolymers o~ ethylene . wi-th a:Lpha-beta monoethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids, i~ e.g. ~crylic or methacrylic acid~ or their alkyl esters~ e.g.
28 those containing 1-~ carbon a-toms in the alkyl group like ethyl `' :: , ,~ . .
~L3~5Z~
acrylate or copolymers of ethylene with vinyl es-ters, like vinyl acetate. In the foregoing the olefin moiety will be vastly predominant, i.e., in excess of about 60% by weight, desirably in excess of 70% and preferably in excess of about 80 or 90~. Exemplary of other sleeve lakels as con-templated herein are those cellular/non-cellular composite laminates as set forth in German OLS
2,539,843 and Belgian Patent 833,165 and British patent 1,526,424. Extremely outstanding results are obtained wherein the sleeve label comprises a closed cellular polystyrene, for example crystalline general purpose polystyrene having a weight average molecular weight on the order of about 100,000 to about 320,000 and with the label having a thickness of abou~ .005 to about .040 inches and a density of about 6 to about 40 pounds per cubic footO Out-standing results are obtained by employing such a closed cellular polystyrene sheet and producing the heat shrinkable sleeve i~l accordance wi-th the teach-ings of U.S. Patent No. 3,767,496. In accordance with the procedure of that patent a cellular tubular member is extruded from a circular die and is inflated as it issues from the die-head to provide for a cross, or trans-verse, stretching and orientation of the material and the inflated tukular m~mber is likewise stretched or drawn in the machine direction of extrusion _ to provide a machine direction orientation with both of these orientations being set by air cooling of the tubular me~ber. m e stretching and cooling produces an orientation which, in turn, results in the .
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~ L~2 1 capabili~;y oE'-the materlal to heat shr:in~ ~7hen subsequently . exposed to heat. The machine direction of heat shrinkage is high and the cross direction hea-t shrinkage will be low~ i.e.
I the ratio of the heat shrinkage in the mach-ine direction to ii the hea-t shrinkage in the cross direction will be greater than ¦
1 and, pre~erably, greater than 2:1 with quite desirable values ~ being tha-t the machine direction o:E' heat shrinkage is in excess ¦. of about 60% and the cross direc-tion of heat shrinkage is less ¦i than about 30% Outs-tanding results are obtained by ¦! suf~icien~ stretching to obtain a hea~ shrinkage in the machine !
¦ direc-tion of greater than 65% and a heat shrinkage in the ¦ cross direction of less than about 20%. The in~lated tubular I heat shrinkable material is then sli.t and trimmed to obtain a ¦ sheet o~ roll s-tock which sheet o~ roll-s-tock is decora-ted so li that the decoration reads properly in the machine direction o~ i ¦l extrusion. The decora-ted sheet is then~ in turn3 cut in-to -¦
¦' smaller rec-tilinear sheets and then formed in-to a sleeve type ¦¦ pre-decora~ed label by wrapping these sheets, on a mandrel, ~i' with the rnachine direction of extrusion corresponding to'the ¦-¦' circumferential direction of the sleeve to be formed and the ¦~ cross direction of extrusion corxesponding to the axial direction of` the to be ~ormed sleeve, and then bringing opposedj I ends together and joining them to :E-orm a sleeve with an axial ¦¦ seam therealon~ Preferably the opposed ends are brought into ¦! overlapped relationshlp and heat sealed ~o provide ~or a ' pre decora-ted sleeve label with an overlapped axially heat sealed seam. Whi:Le thus ~ar it has not been necessary to do 28 ' so, i~ employing a heat shrinkable pxe-decorated sleeve label , .
- :L:l -: ., . , ::.i : -3~5Zl A-:L1~32~3 - o 1 compr:is:l.ng a c:Losed cel:l.ular :Eo3lned po:Ly-c;-tyrene as desc:r:ibed j . above and emp:loying a biaxia:Lly oriented theImoplastic bo~tle 1, of an e-thylene glycol (:including its esters)-terephthalic acid ¦ (including its esters) reaction product. depending o~ the . speci-fic app:Lication and mater:La:ls employed it may be desirable, i to include pleats in the sleeve ~1hich ru~ paral:lel to the axial.
¦ seam. These plea-ts may be ~ormed in accordance with the teachings se-t ~orth :Ln U. S. Patent No. 3,951,292 ~hich i.s . I directed to a pilfer~proof, heat shrunk neckband for a glass container and closure.
¦ ~eferring now more particularly to the drawings it will be seen that essentially the packages contem~lated herein i include an uprightly unstable thermoplastic bottle generally designated 10~ a preformed base 50 directly contacting and ~ loosely supporting the bottle in an upright position, a pre-¦ decorated heat shurn~ annular label means~ or sleeve 60~ in i tight unitizing heat shrunk peripheral engagement with externally exposed side, or lateralg surfaces of ~he base and I bottle for securely and integrally ~ttaching bottle 10 and , base 50~ with the pre-decorated heat shrunk annular sleeve label 60 being substantially the sole means ~or the secure ¦ attachment o~ base 50 to bottle 10. As illustrated in Figure 1 I~ and Figure 2~ bottle 10 includes a peripheral sidewall 16 ¦! which merges with a convex bottom 18 and peripheral sidewall 16 i includes~ somewhat centrally located thereon, a peripheral gripping groove 22 and at i-ts upper margin a neck, or ~inish, portion 12 and disposed immediateLy below ~inish 12 a neck ,, support ledge 14~ Pre~erably bottle 10 will be a biaxially 29 ~ oriented poly(ethylene terephthalate) bottle :
.
~ 12 -.
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1~ , ,' 2 ~ c) 1 :L Pre~'ormed base 50 wh:ich loosely supports bottle 10 j is f'or3ned from a material having suf'~ic.ient rigidity and ' strength to suppor~ the bottle v.prightly i.n the cornpleted l.. package f'orm. This base may be formed by vacuum forming 1'~ techniques ~ro~ a sheet of a suitable organic polymer, pre:Ferably a thermoplas-tic polymer~ with an especially suitable !~ material being high dens.ity polyeth5~1ene A suitable thickness.
jl ~or base 50 will be a thickness of abou.t 0.025 inch~ ~ase 50 ¦ includes a package support surface 56 and a generall~ tubular i pe.riphera:l sidewall proceeding upwardly there~rom. The generally tubular peripheral sidewall of base 50 includes a peripheral reentrant por-tion ~7 which is partially de~ined by a peripherai upwar~ly and outwardly extending :Ledge 58 Base 5d I is provided with a central portion 59 which merges with ~he ¦ package support sur~ace 56. As seen in Figure 2, in a pre~erre9 embodimentJ.convex botkom 18 o~ botkle 10 is supported on I central portion 59 of' base 50 and the internal sur~ace of the upwardly and outwardly extending ledge 58 also supports botkle . ¦ 10. Thus as will be appreciated from Figure 2 bot~le ~0 and Ij base 50 are brought into axial alignmenk with the base S
¦t lQosely supporting boktle 10. . .
i In order -to uni~ize base 50 and bottle 10 and to !l securely attach these elements there is khen employed a hea~
. - 1, shrinkable pre-decorated sleeve or label generally design2ted !~ 60 as more clearly seen in Figure 3 This sleeve is ~ormed in the manner previously described and includes a decoration 62 j~ thereon and an axial seam 61~, pre~erably a heat sealed over-~l lapped seam. Decoration 62 in khe usual embodiment will 29 l either be conti.nuous about sleeve 60 over 360; or it will be ., ' , . .
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1 o~' a repeat:ing patke~n about the c.irc~l~nf'ere~lce of' ~he s:l.ee-~e, ~or convenience decora,tion 62 i.s not, illustrated in the other . figures but i-t TJill of course be apparent that such decoration ~i will be present. Generally~ it will be pre~erred to produce ¦! the pre-decora-ted heat shrinkable sleeve in a slightly 1~ elliptical configuration suc'h that the minor axis thereof'~
¦, be suf~iciently small so that as it :is positioned about bottle.!
10 and base 50 -to encircle externally disposed sur~aces o~
I bottle 10 and base 50 the sleeve will be held thereon by ¦ fric~ional engagement until such time as ~he package .LS
j subjected to heat at a tempera-ture and for a time su~icient ¦ to bring the heat shrinkable pre-decorated sleeve label into ¦ heat shrunk snug engagement with externally exposed surfaces .
i o~ bottle 10 and base 50. The axial height of sleeve 60 will ~ usually be so selected that~ upon shrinkage~ its upper terminus t will be located in the lower two thirds o~. the axial height of .- I the package and usually its lower terminus will be disposed ¦ slightly v.pwardly o~ the package support sur~ace 56 of base 50, ! A~ditionally, usually the axial height o:~ bzse 50 will be so : 20 1¦ selected that its upper terminus wi.ll generally be in the lower 1/~ o~ the axial heigh~ of the package. Thus~ a-~tex the , , bottle,10 and bas,e 50 have been encircled ~ithin the sleeve : 1¦ label~ base 50 and bottle 10 are securely and integrally ¦~ attached by hea-t shrinking the sleeve to bring into peripheral ~ engagemen~ wi-th lateral sur~ace portions o~ base 50 adjacen-t ,' its upper termînus-. Usually this is done by chucking the i' bottle by its neck and rota-ting it and applying ho-t air to 28 l~ heat shrinkable sleeve label 60. While the heating cycle~ l.e"~
, .
., 3Li30$i2~
~s- L1~2 :L the temperature and time, ~lill vary ~Jith various materiQls, caution should be exercised when employing a biaxially oriented Ij thermoplastic bottle so tha-t the heating is insuf~icient to ! cause any substan-tial deformation o~ the bottle. ~s an example, ¦ ~hen employing a biaxially oriented polytethylene terephthalate) bo-ttle lO and a sleeve ~hich has been ~ormed in the manner ¦ described above ~rom a closed cellular cxystalline gener&l ¦i purpose polystyrene having a density o~ about l~ pounds per li cuhic .~oot and a thickness of about 0~015 inches wlth a heat ! shrinkage in the circu~ferential direction o* the sleeve o.~
about 70% and an axial heat shrinkage o* about 10%, temperaturer-I on ~he order o~ abou-t 350F. *or about 6 seconds are ~ui-te ¦ suitable to obtain outstanding resul-ts ~ As will be seen from Figure 2~ and generally in i Figure l~ upon being heat shrunk, sleeve 60 is brought into peripheral, snug~ non~ elded~ non-melted~ non-adhesively secured heat~shrunk engagement with externally exposed sur~ace~s Il o~ peripheral sidewall 16 and the externally sxposed surfaces ¦l of the tubular peripheral sidewalI o~ base 50~ More speci~ically, jj it will be observed that upon heat shrinkage sleeve 60 shrinks !
¦i into contour con~orming engagement with reentran-t portion 57 I with ~he portion 66 of sleeve 60 immediately outwardly o~ ledge .~ i 58 proceeding inwardly and downwardly in heat shrunk engagement therewith~ thus greatly ~acilita-ting the gripping, secure il attach~ent o~ base 50 to bottle lO~ It will also be observed in Figure 2 -tha~ sleeve 60 upon heat shrinkage preclucles entry '. o* contaminants bet~1een base 50 and bottle lO since i-~ spans the upper -terminus o:~ base 50 and is heat shrunk against adJacent portions o~ the bottle and base, hence blocking an~r 30 - possible openings ~lhicn would allow contaminant access.
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1 Rei'er.r:i.ng no~l L;o T~'igure 4 1i~e nvrnera:Ls designate ¦' like features as set forth previously. As lsi:Ll be seen irl i , Figure ~ peripheral sidewall 16 adjacent bottom l$ inclwdes ~i an inwardly of~'set side~all portion 17. Additionally7 the ¦' upper margin of ledge 58 of base 50 merges ~ith an u.pper tubular peripheral sidewall portion 59 ~Ihich is generally vertically uprigh-t and which telescopically contacts the of~set sidewall portion ~7 o~ bottle 10. Preferably the thickness oi j upper tubular peripheral sidewall portion 59 is approximately ¦ equal to the di~erence between the radius ol o~fset portion ¦ 17 and the radius o~ the bottle sidewall irnmedia-tely adjacently ¦ upward of offset por-tion 17 D The procedure for forming the j ~inal package of ~'igure 4 is generally the same as that ,l indica-ted above, namely~ bot-tle 10 is ~elescopically and ! loosely posi-tioned within base 50, with the offse-t sidewall portion 17 being positioned inwardly of -the upper tubular peripheral sidewall por-tion 59 of base 50 and sleeve label 60 is then encirclingly applied about and heat shrun~ to bring it . I into snug~ peripheral, heat shrunk engagement with externally j exposed sur~aces o~ base 50 and bottle 10. One of the advantag~ s of the embodimen-t of Figure ~ is that the ex-ternal sur:~ace of the ~.pper portion o~ -tubular peripheral sidewall 59 is generally in vertical alignme~t~ or ~lush~ with -the externa~
j sur~ace of sidewall 16 immedia-tely above the o~set portion 17 , and, hence~ virtually no edges o~ the upper terminus of base ~' 50 are present which edges cov.ld provide potential contacting , points by which forces could be applied to dislodge the base 50j 28 ¦, from bottle 10.
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A~ 52~o 1 . 11hile ~he above sets :~orth the present :invention ~
, w:ill o~ course be apparent -~hat modi~ication is possible ~hich , pursuant to the patent statutes and laws does no~ depart ~rom -the spiri-t and scope o~ -~he present invention.
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Claims (18)
1. A method of producing a package having a bottle substantially solely securely attached to a bottle supporting base with a heat shrunk label, said method comprising:
(a) extruding a tube of plastic, stretching said tube both radially and longitudinally to biaxially orient the tube, the extent of stretch and the degree of orientation being greater longitudinally than radially, forming a decorated sleeve blank from the tube, fabricating the blank into a tubular sleeve label in which that portion of the original stretched tube which was stretched longitudinally extends circumferentially of the tubular sleeve label, (b) loosely positioning an uprightly unstable bottle having a vertical axis and a continuously arcuate bottom on a bottle supporting base having a flat support bottom, (c) encircling externally exposed peripheral surfaces only of said bottle and base including the peripheral line of juncture therebetween within the heat shrinkable pre-decorated tubular sleeve label, said sleeve label having a high heat shrinkage in the circumferential direction of said label and a low heat shrinkage in the axial direction of said label, (d) securely and integrally attaching said base to said loosely positioned bottle with said sleeve label by heating said sleeve label for a time and at a temperature sufficient to peripherally shrink said sleeve label into snug, encircling engagement with said external peripheral surfaces and insufficient to axially shrink the label beyond the confines of said base so as to produce said packager said heating being insufficient to cause any substantial deformation of said bottle, while effecting minimal distortion of said tubular sleeve label axially of said bottle, so that the package is supported on a horizontal surface by the uncovered base support bottom depending beneath said label.
(a) extruding a tube of plastic, stretching said tube both radially and longitudinally to biaxially orient the tube, the extent of stretch and the degree of orientation being greater longitudinally than radially, forming a decorated sleeve blank from the tube, fabricating the blank into a tubular sleeve label in which that portion of the original stretched tube which was stretched longitudinally extends circumferentially of the tubular sleeve label, (b) loosely positioning an uprightly unstable bottle having a vertical axis and a continuously arcuate bottom on a bottle supporting base having a flat support bottom, (c) encircling externally exposed peripheral surfaces only of said bottle and base including the peripheral line of juncture therebetween within the heat shrinkable pre-decorated tubular sleeve label, said sleeve label having a high heat shrinkage in the circumferential direction of said label and a low heat shrinkage in the axial direction of said label, (d) securely and integrally attaching said base to said loosely positioned bottle with said sleeve label by heating said sleeve label for a time and at a temperature sufficient to peripherally shrink said sleeve label into snug, encircling engagement with said external peripheral surfaces and insufficient to axially shrink the label beyond the confines of said base so as to produce said packager said heating being insufficient to cause any substantial deformation of said bottle, while effecting minimal distortion of said tubular sleeve label axially of said bottle, so that the package is supported on a horizontal surface by the uncovered base support bottom depending beneath said label.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein a portion of said externally exposed surface of said base is a ledge.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein a portion of said externally exposed surface of said base is a reentrant portion.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said heat shrinkable sleeve label includes an axial heat sealed overlapped seam.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said sleeve label comprises a cellular thermoplastic polymer and has a density of about 6-40 pounds per cubic foot and a thickness of about 5-40 mils.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said bottle is formed of a polymer comprising an ethylene glycol-terephthalic acid reaction product and said sleeve comprises a closed cellular polystyrene.
7. A package comprising an uprightly unstable thermoplastic bottle having a generally convex bottom and a peripheral sidewall extending upwardly therefrom, a base directly contacting and loosely supporting said bottle in an upright position, and pre-decorated, heat shrunk, annular label means in tight unitizing peripheral engagement with externally exposed surfaces of said base and sidewall for securely and integrally attaching said bottle and base, said means being substantially the sole means for such attachment.
8. The package of claim 7 wherein said base comprises an annular, package supporting surface and a generally tubular peripheral sidewall proceeding upwardly therefrom, said label being in heat shrunk engagement with said tubular sidewall and said bottle sidewall
9. The package of claim 8 wherein said bottle peripheral sidewall adjacent said bottom includes an inwardly offset sidewall portion and a portion of said tubular peripheral sidewall is in telescopic contact therewith.
10. The package of claim 9 wherein said upper portion of said tubular sidewall has a thickness approximately equal to the difference between the radius of said offset portion and the radius of the bottle sidewall adjacently upward of said offset portion.
.
.
11. The package of claim 7 wherein said base includes a generally tubular sidewall having a ledge integrally formed thereon, and a portion of said means is in heat shrunk engagement with said ledge.
12. The package of claim 7 wherein said base includes a peripheral package support surface and a generally tubular sidewall proceeding upwardly therefrom, said tubular sidewall including a peripheral outwardly and upwardly extending ledge portion and wherein said bottle is supported on the internal surface of said ledge and said label means extends inwardly and downwardly in heat shrunk contact with said ledge.
13. The package of claim 7 wherein said base includes a generally tubular sidewall having a peripheral reentrant portion and wherein said label means extends inwardly in heat shrunk engagement with said reentrant portion.
14. The package of claim 7 wherein said label means comprises an axially seamed label.
15. The package of claim 14 wherein said label means comprises a cellular thermoplastic organic polymer.
16. The package of claim 15 wherein said label means comprises a closed cellular polystyrene and said label has a thickness between about .005 to about .040 inch and a density of about 6 to about 40 pounds per cubic foot.
17. The package of claim 16 wherein said label means comprises an axial heat sealed overlapped seamed label.
18. The package of claim 7 wherein said bottle is a polyester bottle comprised of an ethylene glycol-terephthalic acid reaction product and said base is polyethylene and said label comprises a closed cellular polystyrene having a weight average molecular weight of between about 100,000 to about 320,000.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA326,169A CA1130521A (en) | 1979-04-24 | 1979-04-24 | Plastic package |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA326,169A CA1130521A (en) | 1979-04-24 | 1979-04-24 | Plastic package |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1130521A true CA1130521A (en) | 1982-08-31 |
Family
ID=4114047
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA326,169A Expired CA1130521A (en) | 1979-04-24 | 1979-04-24 | Plastic package |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1130521A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN114043695A (en) * | 2014-04-17 | 2022-02-15 | 艾萨帕克控股公司 | Method and device for extruding and labelling packing tube |
-
1979
- 1979-04-24 CA CA326,169A patent/CA1130521A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN114043695A (en) * | 2014-04-17 | 2022-02-15 | 艾萨帕克控股公司 | Method and device for extruding and labelling packing tube |
| CN114043695B (en) * | 2014-04-17 | 2023-11-24 | 艾萨帕克控股公司 | Method and apparatus for extruding and labelling a packaging tube |
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| MKEX | Expiry |