Plastic Bottle Shoulder Ribs for Top Load Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Plastic bottles with thin walls face challenges in maintaining strength and preventing damage when subjected to top loads during transportation and storage, as existing designs often result in localized collapse and stress concentration at the bottle shoulder portion.
Innovation Solution
A plastic bottle design featuring a bottle shoulder portion with annular circumferential ribs and radial ribs that deform uniformly under compressive load, allowing for stable collapse and stress distribution, preventing inclination of the bottle mouth and maintaining shape under top loads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the wall thickness of the bottle is reduced to decrease weight, then the weight of the bottle is reduced, but the strength of the bottle is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The bottle shoulder portion is segmented into multiple circumferential ribs (first, second, and third ribs) that divide the structure into discrete load-bearing segments. This segmentation allows the thin-walled bottle to distribute compressive loads across multiple rib structures, preventing localized buckling while maintaining overall lightweight construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The bottle employs local quality enhancement by adding circumferential ribs specifically at the shoulder portion where compressive loads are most critical during stacking. The wall thickness remains thin in other areas to maintain lightweight properties, while the ribbed shoulder portion provides localized strength enhancement where needed most.
2Strength
If a top load is applied to collapse the bottle for transportation, then the bottle can withstand stacking loads, but localized collapse occurs at the bottle shoulder portion causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
The circumferential ribs segment the bottle shoulder into multiple independent deformation zones. When a top load is applied, each rib can deform independently and uniformly, preventing localized collapse at any single point. The segmentation ensures that stress is distributed evenly across the entire shoulder portion rather than concentrating at weak points.
Solution Approach 2:
The bottle design changes the structural parameters of the shoulder portion by adding circumferential ribs with specific geometries and spacing. These parameter changes enable the shoulder to undergo controlled, uniform collapse under top load, transforming the deformation pattern from localized and unpredictable to distributed and predictable, thereby preventing damage.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the bottle shoulder portion is designed to collapse uniformly, then the bottle can be compressed for storage, but the bottle mouth portion becomes inclined and unable to withstand top load
Solution Approach 1:
The bottle employs asymmetric local quality design where the circumferential ribs are positioned and dimensioned to create different structural characteristics at different locations. The first, second, and third circumferential ribs have specific spacing and geometries that guide the collapse pattern, ensuring the bottle mouth remains stable and aligned while the shoulder portion compresses uniformly.
Solution Approach 2:
The bottle shoulder portion incorporates asymmetric rib configurations where the spacing, height, and curvature of circumferential ribs vary to control the collapse behavior. This asymmetric design ensures that during compression, the collapse occurs in a controlled manner that maintains the vertical alignment of the bottle mouth, preventing inclination while achieving uniform compression.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enables the bottle to withstand large top loads during stacking by distributing stress across multiple ribs, preventing damage and maintaining commercial value, while allowing for easy restoration to the normal shape for retail display.
Implementation Method 1
when a top load acts on the plastic bottle, deformation is produced starting from the first circumferential rib, the second circumferential rib and the third circumferential rib, transitioning to a state of downward collapse, and after the top load has been released, the collapsed state can be maintained
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Provided is a plastic bottle that can be depressed and restored without damaging the bottle shoulder portion even with thin plastic bottles and that can effectively handle top loads. A shoulder portion (3) has, in order from the top, a first circumferential rib (311), a second circumferential rib (312), and a third circumferential rib (313), each being annular, on the same axis as an opening (2) and is configured so that a plastic bottle (1) transitions to a depressed state in which the bottle is depressed down by deformation that starts at the first circumferential rib (311), the second circumferential rib (312), and the third circumferential rib (313) when a top load (F) is acting on the bottle and so that the depressed state can be maintained even after the top load (F) is removed.