Container with Improved Crush Resistance

Abstract

A plastic container having improved crush resistance through the inclusion of a window and column design which is principally intended to increase its load bearing ability and / or a series of circumferential ribs intended to improve the container's circumferential strength to inhibit deformation during vacuum filling. The plastic container can be used in place of glass containers of similar volume.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 698,534, filed Jul. 12, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This disclosure relates to the field of containers, particularly to plastic containers with improved crush resistance. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Containers are ubiquitous for the sale of goods in society. The sale of many products such as liquids or products provided in liquid is essentially impossible without containers in which to transport the products. While the concept of bulk foods (where a user supplies their own container which is filled from a larger container) is popular for some items, most items in today's society are prepackaged in disposable or recycleable containers for sale. In this way, a consumer can simply grab a single container of product for easy transport, pu...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] Because of these and other problems in the art, discussed herein is a plastic container having improved crush resistance. In an embodiment, the container serves as a replacement for a glass container of similar volume and may be able to be used in a manufacturing process designed to operate on glass containers without modification to the process. The container preferably includes two structural devices. The first device is the inclusion of a window and column design which is principally intended to increase its load bearing ability. The second device is a series of circumferential ribs and is principally intended to improve the containers circumferential strength to inhibit deformation during vacuum filling.

Problems solved by technology

The sale of many products such as liquids or products provided in liquid is essentially impossible without containers in which to transport the products.

For a manufacturer, however, performance of the container under certain conditions allows for the product to be provided to the consumer easier or less expensively which can have a dramatic effect on both profitability of the manufacturer and resultant retail price of the product.

Both of these can result in increases in the manufacturers' profitability and can influence the consumer in purchasing.

Vacuum filling, however, places significant demands on the container.

This has traditionally been a problem for plastic containers which are more susceptible to being crushed than glass containers which are heavier and more rigid.

The problem is particularly acute because plastic containers made to be inexpensive and disposable, which are usually desirable traits in consumer product packaging, often have relatively thin and flexible walls.

A second problem of product containers is their packing and storage.

In many cases, this can require transport over great distance and warehousing for storage.

The concern is that many plastic containers lack the rigidity to support additional filled containers being placed on top of them.

The weight of the upper containers, pressing down from above on a container, can easily become sufficient that the container will crush under the weight resulting in deformed, or worse damaged, product.

While glass containers are a useful solution, glass containers have some specific problems.

In particular, glass containers are generally much more breakable than plastic containers are, which can lead to their being less popular amongst consumers.

In some cases, a more major problem is that glass containers are generally significantly heavier than plastic containers of a similar volume.

This additional weight can lead to dramatic increases in shipping and transport cost for the resultant product.

In particular, a glass container filled with product is often more difficult to handle due to its weight, and can be more expensive to transport, particularly over large distances.

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