Amcor Limited

John A Nievierowski

Michael T Lane

Luke A Mast

Frederick C Beuerle

Michael E Penny

Walter J Strasser

Dan Weissmann

Christopher C LaBombarbe

Jonathan P Jarman

Brad Caszatt

Patricia M Maslak

A hot-fill container may have a shoulder portion, body portion, bottom portion, and numerous strengthening grooves and a thin-walled, flexible, bag-like, collapsible portion in the body portion. The collapsible portion may be located between the strengthening ribs. The container structure may also employ one or more vacuum panels in the body portion that may lie between the collapsible portion and the bottom portion. The vacuum panels and the collapsible body portion may move toward a central vertical axis when the container is subjected to an internal vacuum pressure. Strengthening grooves may border the collapsible body portion, which may be circular in pre-vacuum cross-section but polygonal in post-vacuum cross-section. Part of the collapsible portion may be concave inward toward a central vertical axis of the container while part of the collapsible portion may move away from the central vertical axis. Vertical columns may support the collapsible portion.

Thin walled hot filled container

A plastic container including an upper end having an aperture defining an opening of the container. A lower end defines a base of the container. A sidewall portion merges into a grip portion and extends between the upper end and the lower end. The sidewall portion and the grip portion each include a plurality of horizontal ribs. The horizontal ribs of the sidewall portion each include at least one chamfered rib that provides additional structural strength and support to the container during hot fill, packaging and shipping operations.

Hot-fill plastic container with ribs and grip

A rectangular plastic container having a shoulder region adapted for vacuum pressure absorption, a sidewall portion having a rigid support ledge and a tapered base structure having an octagonal shaped footprint. The shoulder region including vacuum panels being moveable to accommodate vacuum related forces generated within the container. The shoulder region, sidewall portion and base each having differing horizontal cross sectional shapes.

Rectangular hot-filled container

Blow-molded containers such as the 1.75-liter size for liquor beverages have an everting grip problem. Using inwardly facing grip geometry, consisting of two convex surfaces that come together at an inward ridge, eliminates the problem. The combination of the two convex surface sidewalls further eliminates the need for lateral reinforcing ribs in both cold-fill and hot-fill containers. The curved sidewalls come together at an edge offset the central axis of the container.

Container with non-everting handgrip

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Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

John A Nievierowski