Thermoplastic cup and method and apparatus for making

Abstract

A two-piece nestable cup-like container comprising a continuous side wall having an open upper end and includes a recessed bottom. The side wall is formed from a single double ended sheet of a heat-shrinkable thermoplastic material. The ends of the sheet are joined to one another along a liquid-tight seam. The side wall extends downwardly from a point near the open mouth of the upper end of the container to a point near the bottom and is thereafter folded at its lower edge upwardly to form a double wall portion and a radially inwardly extending annular portion that underlies a separate bottom member that is sealingly joined to the radially inwardly extending portion on the bottom edge of the side wall. In accordance with the method and apparatus, a sleeve made from the sheet by joining the ends is heat shrunk on a mandrel and the free edge at the lower portion of the side wall is caused to shrink inwardly. Opposed shaping members are moved toward one another while the sheet is at an appropriate temperature for shrinking and forming to define the doubled wall edge and to the heat seal the bottom member to the radially inwardly extending portion.