Continental Pet Technologies, Inc.

Stokely-van Camp, Inc.

The Continental Group, Inc.

Graham Packaging Pet Technologies Inc.

Snapple Beverage Corporation

Owens-illinois Closure, Inc.

Rexam Closure Systems Inc.

Suppayan M Krishnakumar

Wayne N Collette

David P Piccioli

Thomas E Nahill

John M Bretz

Jeff Lichtman

Steven L Schmidt

Martin H Beck

John F Pocock

Robert G Di Canio

Christopher D Rowe

Jeffrey L Pattee

Ieuan L Harry

Tia-Maria Smith

Gautam K Mahajan

Gerald Zboch

Jennifer Macritchie

Robert C Boynton

Dave Piccioli

Susan L Colten

Chi Ching Lin

James L Gregory

Bryan J Lembke

Bryan H Miller

Walter R Jolly

Q Peter Zhang

Kenneth F Friendship

Stephanie L Kurtz-Rooney

Richard E Clark

Nikhil Mani

John F Trembly

Ernest A Coleman

Louis D Tacito

Siegfried S Roy

Richard C Nichols

Rolf Grob

Leuan L Harry

Gerard J Kerins

Eileene M Worsowicz

Teri Weisheim

Chih C Lin

Harry L Ieuan

Steven Giguere

Salil K Das

Chi Chung Lin

Joan C Pushee

Stephane C Prevot

Bottle

A tamper-indicating closure for a beverage package includes a base wall having a peripheral skirt with at least one internal thread for securing the closure to a container. A tamper-indicating band is frangibly connected to an edge of the skirt, and a stop flange extends axially and radially from an edge of the band for abutment with a stop bead on the container finish. A plurality of circumferentially spaced drain openings extend axially through the juncture of the band and the flange. A plurality of circumferentially spaced channels extend axially through the internal thread on the closure skirt, with at least some of the channels being axially aligned with the drain openings. The stop bead on the container is in the form of a plurality of circumferentially spaced bead segments separated from each other by circumferential gaps. Liquid product may readily drain from between the container finish and the closure skirt through the axial channels in the closure thread, through the drain openings at the juncture of the closure flange and band, and through the gaps between the stop bead segments on the container finish. The container finish may also have a support flange with drain channels or slots aligned with the gaps in the bead.

Tamper-indicating closure, container, package, and methods of manufacture

Sleeve molding apparatus and methods for making multi-layer injection molded plastic articles in successive mold cavities. In a first molding step, an inner sleeve is molded on a core in a first mold cavity, which may comprise a full body length sleeve or only a partial sleeve, such as an upper neck finish portion. The sleeve and core are withdrawn from the first mold cavity while the sleeve is still warm, and transferred without substantial delay to a second mold cavity for injection molding an outer layer which bonds to the inner sleeve. By transferring the sleeve at an elevated temperature into the second mold cavity, an improved bond is formed between the inner sleeve and outer layer which resists separation during a later reheat stretch blow molding step, and/or in use of the resulting article. In a preferred embodiment, a pasteurizable beer container is provided having a finish-only sleeve of a PEN polymer. In a second embodiment, a returnable and refillable water container is provided having a full-length body sleeve of a PEN polymer. A multi-station injection molding apparatus is provided having a transfer mechanism, such as a rotatable turret or reciprocating shuttle, for cost-effective manufacture of preforms simultaneously in multiple cavity sets.

Sleeve molding

A polyester container having an enhanced level of crystallinity in the sidewall while maintaining a low level of crystallinity in a thickened base portion. The container is particularly useful as a refillable container which can withstand higher caustic wash temperatures and exhibits reduced flavor carryover, or as a hot-fill container. The container, which can be monolayer or multilayer, is also useful as a carbonated beverage, Oor CObarrier, or beer container.

Container with high-crystallinity sidewall and low-crystallinity base

Method of making a tamper-indicating closure

A method of making a polyester container having an enhanced level of crystallinity in the sidewall while maintaining a low level of crystallinity in a thickened base portion. The container is particularly useful as a refillable container which can withstand higher caustic wash temperatures and exhibits reduced flavor carryover, or as a hot-fill container. According to the method, a sidewall-forming section of a preform is initially expanded, heated to contract and crystallize the same, and than reexpanded; a base-forming portion of the preform is shielded from the heat treatment and is expanded either before or after the heat treatment step.

Method of forming container with high-crystallinity sidewall and low-crystallinity base

Method and apparatus for in-mold handle attachment, wherein a portion of a blow-molded container is formed about a retaining member on a handle during blow molding. After forming the container portion about the retaining member, a cooling medium is directed at the location of the container portion in order to accelerate the cooling rate at the container portion. There is achieved at least one of an improvement in the security of the attachment of the handle to the container, and a reduction in the blow-mold processing time.

Method and apparatus for cooling during in-mold handle attachment

Tamper-indicating closure, container, package and methods of manufacture

A preform and container each having a crystallized neck finish and method of making the same, wherein the method involves introducing a first thermoplastic material into a first mold section to form a substantially crystallized neck portion of a preform, and introducing a second thermoplastic material into a second mold section to form a substantially amorphous body-forming portion of a preform. The first material may have a substantially higher crystallization rate than the second material, and/or the first mold section may be at a higher temperature than the second mold section. In one embodiment, an indexer carrying two core sets is movable between first and second cavity sets for sequentially molding the neck portions on the first core set in the first cavity set, and then transferring the cores and neck portions to the second cavity set for molding the body-forming portions. The method enables cost-effective manufacture of preforms with crystallized neck finishes and enables production of a thermal resistant finish within a close dimensional tolerance.

Preform and container with crystallized neck finish and method of making the same

A multilayer plastic container having enhanced strength for high temperature and pressure applications such as the pasteurization of carbonated juice drinks. The container is commercially cost-effective in comparison to prior art pasteurizable glass containers, and provides all of the advantages of plastic over glass, i.e., lightweight, shatter-resistant, etc. In a particular embodiment, the multilayer container includes inner and outer layers of a relatively high IV virgin PET, e.g., 0.85-0.90 dl/g, and a core layer of post-consumer PET having a substantially lower IV. The container has a relatively tall and slender profile, with high orientation levels in the panel and shoulder, and an oriented thick-walled base with feet. The base preferably has a high profile and angled foot pads which are allowed to move outwardly under creep. According to a method of making a multilayer preform for such container, an enhanced injection rate and mold pressure are utilized to enhance interlayer bonding and prevent separation of the layers in spite of their substantial differences in IV.

Multilayer container resistant to elevated temperatures and pressures, and method of making the same

Method of securing a separate handle ( ) to a plastic blow-molded container, the container having a molded external flange which is not subject to stretching during the blow-molding process. The flange has a substantially flat underside face and serves as a rigid support for the handle ( ) when a substantially flat upper abutment surface of the handle ( ) is positioned against the flange. Preferably, the upper end of the handle ( ) has a downwardly extending lug ( ) which is surrounded by the blow-molded sidewall of the container. The preform and handle ( ) can be brought together into position where the upper end of the handle is adjacent to the underside of the external flange by relative movement of the preform and handle ( ) towards each other along a first path which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the preform. In addition, the handle ( ) and preform can be brought together prior to their introduction into the mold, and then introduced together into the blow mold along a second path which is also substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the preform. Further, the preform can be heated prior to introduction into the mold, while the handle ( ) remains unheated.

Handled plastic container

Bottle portion

Method and apparatus for making multilayer injection molded plastic articles. In one embodiment, a relatively thin inner sleeve layer is molded in a first mold cavity on a core, the first mold cavity being heated to maintain an outer surface of the inner sleeve layer at an elevated temperature, and the core and sleeve layer are transferred to a second mold cavity to mold a relatively thick outer layer over the sleeve layer while the outer surface is at the elevated temperature, where the elevated temperature is selected to provide melt adhesion between the inner sleeve and the outer layer during the second molding step. In another embodiment, a method of injection molding is provided in which a first thermoplastic material is used to form a first preform portion having an average percent crystallinity of at least about 30%, and a second thermoplastic material is injection molded to form a second preform portion which remains substantially amorphous.

Growing community of inventors

Nashua, NH, United States of America

Suppayan M Krishnakumar