Lightweight plastic container and preform

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10023345-B2
Application number	US-201715495084-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 24, 2017
Priority date	Mar 6, 2006
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

A plastic container is provided that includes a lower supporting base portion; a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the base portion; a neck portion extending upwardly from the sidewall portion; and a closure. The neck portion includes a support flange having an upper and lower surface, threads, a tamper-evident formation, and a dispensing opening at the top of the neck portion. In an embodiment, the weight of the neck portion is 3.0 grams or less; and the vertical distance from the top of the dispensing opening to the lower surface of the support flange, including the threads and the tamper-evident formation, is 0.580 inches or less. A preform and method for making a container are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A container assembly comprising:
(i) a plastic blow molded container comprising:
a lower supporting base portion;
a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the base portion; and
a neck portion extending upwardly from the sidewall portion, the neck portion including a dispensing opening positioned at a top of the neck portion, threads positioned below the dispensing opening, a tamper-evident formation positioned below the threads, and a support flange positioned below the tamper-evident formation, the support flange having an upper surface and a lower surface;

(ii) a closure configured to receive the threads;
wherein the container is formed of a material comprising polyethylene terephthalate (PET); a weight of the neck portion is 3.0 grams or less; a vertical distance from the lower surface of the support flange to a top of the dispensing opening, including the threads and the tamper-evident formation, is 0.450 inches or less; a vertical distance from the top of the dispensing opening to the upper surface of the support flange is 0.40 inches or less; a vertical distance from a furthest radially-extending portion of a lower surface of the tamper-evident formation to the upper surface of the support flange is 0.10 inches or less; a vertical distance between the furthest outwardly radially-extending portion of the lower surface of the tamper-evident formation to the lower surface of the support flange at the same outward radial distance is 0.15 inches or less; and the tamper-evident formation is vertically spaced from the threads.

2. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein an outside diameter of the support flange is greater than 22 mm and less than or equal to 39.2 mm.

3. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the tamper-evident formation comprises a bead.

4. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the tamper-evident formation is discontinuous.

5. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein a radially extending length of the support flange is 0.20 inches or less.

6. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the weight of the neck portion is 2.3 grams or less.

7. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein a ratio of a height of a center of gravity of the container to container height is less than 0.57.

8. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the threads comprise multiple-lead threads.

9. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein a combined weight of the neck portion, the sidewall portion, and the base portion is 11 grams or less.

10. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein an inner diameter of the dispensing opening is at least 22 mm.

11. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein a volume of the container is at least 500 ml.

12. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the container is transparent.

13. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the vertical distance from the lower surface of the tamper-evident formation to the top of the dispensing opening is 0.30 inches or less.

14. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the container is formed of a material that is bi-axially oriented.

15. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the container is formed of a material comprising recycled material.

16. The container assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the container is filled with a beverage.

17. A container assembly comprising:
(i) a plastic blow molded container comprising:
a base portion;
a sidewall portion; and
a neck portion; the neck portion including threads, a tamper-evident formation, and a support flange;

(ii) a closure configured to receive the threads;
wherein the container is formed of a material comprising polyethylene terephthalate (PET); a vertical distance from a lower surface of the support flange to a top of the neck portion is 0.450 inches or less; a weight of the neck portion is 2.3 grams or less; and an outside diameter of the support flange is greater than 22 mm and less than or equal to 39.2 mm.

18. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein a volume of the container is at least 500 ml.

19. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein the tamper-evident formation comprises a bead.

20. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein the tamper-evident formation is discontinuous.

21. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein a radially extending length of the support flange is 0.20 inches or less.

22. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein the container is filled with a beverage.

23. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein the threads comprise multiple-lead threads.

24. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein a combined weight of the neck portion, the sidewall portion, and the base portion is 11 grams or less.

25. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein an inner diameter of the neck portion is at least 22 mm.

26. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein the container is transparent.

27. The container assembly according to claim 17 , wherein the container is formed of a material comprising recycled material.

28. A container assembly comprising:
(i) a plastic blow molded container comprising:
a base portion;
a sidewall portion; and
a neck portion; the neck portion including threads, a tamper-evident formation, and a support flange;

(ii) a closure configured to receive the threads;
wherein the container is formed of a material comprising polyethylene terephthalate (PET); a vertical distance from a lower surface of the support flange to a top of the neck portion is 0.580 inches or less; an outside diameter of the support flange is greater than 22 mm and less than or equal to 39.2 mm; a volume of the container is at least 500 ml; and the container is filled with a beverage.

Assignees

• Plastipak Packaging Inc

Inventors

• Darr Richard C
• Morgan Edward V

Classifications

• B29K2067/00

  Use of polyesters {or derivatives thereof}, as moulding material · CPC title

• B65D1/023

  Neck construction · CPC title

• Y10T428/1352

  Polymer or resin containing [i.e., natural or synthetic] · CPC title

• B65D1/0207

  characterised by material, e.g. composition, physical features · CPC title

• B29C2049/4664

  staying in the final article · CPC title