Niagara Bottling, LLC

Oklahoma State University

Origin Materials Operating, Inc.

Packsys Global Ag

Niagra Bottling, LLC

Corvaglia Mould Ag

Hanan, Jay Clarke

Jay Clarke Hanan

Sudheer Bandla

Alexander Schau

Ahmed Tasnub Takaddus

Naser Imran Hossain

Andrew Dimitri Peykoff

Jochen Forsthovel

Mohammad Adom Safiullah

Abhishek Shukla

Katherine Lai

Jochen Forsthövel

Vahid Shabafrooz

Gerald Hüttner

Zachary Curhan

Jochen Frosthövel

Rachel Hess

Carlos Alberto Giron Gutierrez

Rachel Egan Hess

Peter N Bruinooge

Paul Flükiger

Shih-Chieh “Jerry” Hsiung

Chase Parda

Stephanie Pietrasch

Joshua Dums

Benedetta Zancan

Romeo Corvaglia

Manuel Chiavi

Damon Wesley Choate, Jr

Alexander Telemachos Mouschovias

Julius Läubli

Pascal Schaad

Thermoformed polyester resin closures for closing containers, the polyester resins including polyethylene terephthalate ('PET'), polyethylene furandicarboxylate (“PEF”), or a copolymer including PET and PEF, are provided herein. Methods of making the thermoformed closures are further provided. Methods of sterilizing the thermoformed closures are further provided.

Pressure dome cap

A container may have a base, a sidewall connected to the base, a bell connected to the sidewall, and a finish connected to the bell. The base may have strap ribs to resist deformation of the base. The sidewall may have recessed columns to resist bending, leaning, crumbling, and/or stretching. The strap ribs and recessed columns may vertically line up along a central axis of the container to communicate forces on the container vertically along the container to continuously resist deformation in the base and the sidewall.

Plastic container with strapped base

Bottle

A device for folding an edge portion () along a circumferential direction of a mantle of a closure cap () for a container, for forming a retaining ring on the closure cap (), comprises a first transport device for transporting the closure cap () along a transport path, which comprises a processing path, wherein the first transport device comprises a driver () rotatable about an axis of rotation for receiving a closure cap (). A stationary folding rail () with a folding angle that changes along the processing path is arranged along the processing path in such a way that during transport of a closure cap () by the first transport device along the folding rail (), the edge portion () can be folded along the circumferential direction of the mantle of the closure cap () in the direction of the axis of rotation about a folding axis that is orientated orthogonally to the axis of rotation and spaced apart from the axis of rotation.

Device for folding of an edge portion of a closure cap

A composition and a method are provided for graphene reinforced polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Graphene nanoplatelets comprising a suitable surface area are added to a dispersion medium for producing graphene reinforced PET. The average surface area may range between substantially 15 m/g and 750 m/g. In some embodiments, the dispersion medium may be comprised of ethylene glycol. The dispersion medium and graphene nanoplatelets are sonicated to disperse the nanoplatelets within the dispersion medium. The dispersion medium and graphene nanoplatelets are centrifuged to remove larger nanoplatelets that are not suitably dispersed within the dispersion medium. A supernatant solution of dispersed graphene nanoplatelets and dispersion medium is decanted and then used for polymerization of the graphene reinforced PET. The resultant graphene reinforced PET is comprised of a continuous matrix of PET with a reinforcement material comprising dispersed phase graphene nanoplatelets.

Poly(ethylene terephthalate)-graphene nanocomposites from improved dispersion

A container closure and methods are disclosed for providing visible evidence of removal of the closure from a container after installation by a manufacturer. The closure includes tamper evidence bridges comprising small tabs of material that extend from a bottom-most edge of the closure to a tamper evidence ledge of the container. The bridges break when the closure is rotated relative to the tamper evidence ledge, thereby providing readily visible evidence that the closure has been removed after installation by the manufacturer. In some embodiments, a tamper evidence closure engages with threads of a finish of the container. Cam locks around the perimeter of the tamper evidence closure are permanently flared by cams on the finish during loosening of the closure. Outward flaring of the cam locks provides a visual indication that the tamper evidence closure has been loosened after installation by a manufacturer.

Tamper evidence container closure

A finish portion of a preform for rotatably engaging with a closure to seal contents within an interior of a container includes a body that begins at an opening to the interior, a sealing surface adjacent to the opening and including a first polished buffer zone configured to cooperate with a plug seal, and a transition surface extending from the sealing surface to a narrower handling surface. The first buffer zone is polished by way of a machine polishing technique.

Container finish portion with polished buffer zone

A tamper evidence closure is provided for rotatably engaging with a finish of a container to seal contents within the interior of the container. A multiplicity of thin connections attach a tamper evidence band to a circumference of the tamper evidence closure. A segmented cam extends around the circumference of the tamper evidence band. An angled lower surface of the cam facilitates passing the tamper evidence band over a tamper evidence ledge of the finish during assembly of the tamper evidence closure onto the container. An upper surface of the cam engages with the tamper evidence ledge to break the thin connections and retain the tamper evidence band positioned on the finish during loosening of the tamper evidence closure. Multiple overhang portions above the cam press against an upper portion of the tamper evidence ledge to ensure that the tamper evidence band remains engaged with the tamper evidence ledge.

Threaded tamper evidence finish and closure for container

A preform for being blow-molded to form a container is provided herein. The preform comprises a finish portion that includes an opening to an interior of the preform and includes a tamper evidence ledge. The tamper evidence ledge cooperates with a tamper-evident ring portion of a cap to indicate that the cap has not been previously loosened after being installed by the manufacturer. A neck portion is disposed adjacent to the tamper evidence ledge. A tapered portion transitions from a diameter of the neck portion to a smaller diameter of a cylindrical portion. The cylindrical portion comprises an elongate member that culminates in an end cap. Threads disposed on the finish portion are configured to threadably receive the cap. A handling valley is disposed between the tamper evidence ledge and the threads. The handling valley enables gripping fingers to engage with and air-convey the container along a manufacturing assembly.

Container preform with threaded tamper evidence finish

A bottle may have varying depth ribs to achieve a balance of strength and rigidity while maintaining hoop strength. The varying depth ribs may smoothly transition around the circumference of the bottle from a flattened and/or shallow depth rib portion to a deep rib portion. A collection of flattened and/or shallow depth ribs act as recessed columns in the body of the bottle to resist bending, leaning, crumbling, and/or stretching. The deep rib portions provide hoop strength and make the bottle body more rigid and/or stiffer when gripped by a user. A balance may be achieved between of flattened and/or shallow depth ribs and deep ribs to attain a desired resistance to bending, leaning, and/or stretching while maintaining stiffness in a lightweight bottle.

Plastic container with varying depth ribs

Disclosed are preforms which incorporate improvements in the region of the neck and upper segment of the body to allow the production of lightweight containers, such as bottles suitable for containing water or other beverages. In accordance with certain embodiments, the improvements include a thinner neck finish area than conventional bottles, where the thinner area is extended into the upper segment of the body portion below the support ring. Reducing the thickness in these areas of the bottle allows for less resin to be used in forming the preform and bottle.

Preform extended finish for processing light weight ecologically beneficial bottles

A finish portion of a preform for rotatably engaging with a closure to seal pressurized contents within an interior of a container formed from the preform. The finish portion includes a cylindrical body that begins at an opening to the interior. The cylindrical body has a base surface, threads extending from the base surface, a tamper evidence ledge, and a handling surface disposed between the threads and the tamper evidence ledge. A stepped interior includes a graduated narrowing of the cylindrical body between the base surface and the handling surface.

Container preform with stepped interior finish

A preform is provided for blow-molding to form a container. The preform includes a finish portion for rotatably engaging a closure to seal contents within an interior of the container. The finish portion comprises a cylindrical body that begins at an opening to the interior and extends to and includes a tamper evidence ledge. A mirror polished sealing surface inside the finish portion cooperates with a plug seal of the closure to seal the container. Threads outside the finish portion engage with similar threads inside the closure. Thread starts of the threads reduce potential damage to the threads during installation of the closure. The thread starts may include a start pitch that is greater than a thread pitch of the threads. A handling valley disposed between the threads and the tamper evidence ledge facilitates air-conveying the container along a manufacturing assembly line.

Container preform with tamper evidence finish portion

A sidewall of a container for storing liquid contents includes a grip portion extending from a base of the container and presenting a grip portion periphery about an axis. A plurality of axially angulating ribs are within the grip portion, each of which includes a first portion having a first radial depth relative to the periphery that transitions to a second portion having a second radial depth relative to the periphery less than the first radial depth. A flat portion having a zero radial depth relative to the periphery is positioned circumferentially between a second portion of one angulating rib of the plurality of axially angulating ribs and an axially offset second portion of another angulating rib of the plurality of axially angulating ribs.

Swirl bell bottle with wavy ribs

A nozzle for forming a container preform into a plastic container includes a first cylindrical portion having a first diameter and including a first seal, a second cylindrical portion having a second diameter less than the first diameter and including a second seal, and a transition portion between the first and second cylindrical portions.

Growing community of inventors

Ontario, CA, United States of America

Jay Clarke Hanan