Bottle with non-everting hand grip

A thin-walled plastic bottle has hand-grip indentations each of which are formed by a pair of vertical surfaces unitarily joined together along a common edge and inclined with respect to each other at an obtuse angle, generally greater than about 145.degree.. A plurality of horizontal reinforcing ribs protrude outward over major portions of the first and second surfaces including the common edge, the reinforcing ribs inhibiting the everting of the hand-grip indentations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to thin-walled containers, particularly 
those composed of a strain hardened polymer, having a portion of the side 
wall of the container formed to permit the container to be gripped between 
a thumb and fingers of one hand. 
Thin-walled thermoplastic polymeric containers have been adapted for use to 
contain a wide range of products. The advantageous features of such thin 
walled polymeric containers are well known and include the low cost of 
production, and light weight which contributes to reducing the 
transportation costs for the goods contained within such containers. Some 
containers have been designed to include a pair of opposed, inwardly 
projecting, indentations on opposite sides of the container which 
indentations are so situated as to permit the container as a whole to be 
easily grasped between the thumb and fingers of one hand. While such 
indentations enhance the handling characteristics of the bottle relative 
to pouring liquid product from the bottle, the hand-grip indentations have 
presented some problems. 
When containers having hand-grip indentations of the type generally 
discussed above are to be filled with liquid, the position of the fill 
line within the container is generally designed taking into account the 
volume occupied by the hand-grip indentations themselves. In the event 
that the hand-grip indentations evert to an outwardly projecting rather 
than an inwardly projecting position, the total volume of the container 
generally increases thereby lowering the level of product within the 
container. Where consumers are accustomed to seeing product within a 
container at a given level, the presence of everted indentation presents 
the disturbing appearance of there being less than the normal amount of 
product within the container which, in turn, detrimentally affects the 
customer's willingness to buy the product within the container. 
The everting of the hand-grips has been observed to occur quite easily, 
particularly in the 1.75 liter size commonly used in the liquor industry. 
It has been observed that the hydraulic shock caused by the dropping of a 
full container less than two feet can cause conventional hand-grip 
indentations to evert. Where the containers are warm due to the 
environmental conditions imposed by shipment during hot weather, the 
everted hand-grip indentations may take a set in the outwardly projecting 
position to such a point that the hand-grips of the container will not 
retain the initially designed, inwardly projecting configuration. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In containers constructed according to the present invention, the hand-grip 
indentations comprise first and second vertical surfaces unitarily joined 
together at a common edge, the two surfaces being inclined with respect to 
each other at an obtuse angle, generally greater than about 145.degree.. A 
plurality of reinforcing means having the general form of horizontal ribs 
extend continuously over major portions of the first and second surfaces 
including the common edge between the surfaces, the reinforcing means 
inhibiting the everting of the hand-grip indentations. 
One feature of the present invention is that the angle joining the first 
and second surfaces is sufficiently large that no "over center" condition 
is achievable. Another feature of the present invention is that the 
presence of the horizontal reinforcing means subject the hand-grip 
indentation to a tensional force acting counter to any hydraulic shock 
thereby inhibiting the everting of the indentation. Other specific 
features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those 
skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed 
description of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of 
carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A container 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. 
The container is generally composed of a strain-hardened polymer, 
preferably a biaxially oriented polyester such as polyethylene 
terephthalate. 
The container 10 comprises generally a neck portion 12 terminating at its 
upper end in an opening 14 through which the bottle is filled and the 
content thereof is dispensed. The neck portion 12 generally includes a 
finish 16 for receiving a cap (not shown). The illustrated finish is 
intended to receive a threaded closure (not shown). The finish also 
includes a ring indentation 18 adapted to receive a separate pouring 
dispenser of conventional design used in the liquor industry (not shown). 
The lower end of the neck portion 12 flares outwardly at shoulder 20 to 
join body portion 22. The body portion 22 extends from an upper merger 
zone 24 merging the body 22 to shoulder 20 down to a lower merger zone 26 
merging the body portion 22 to bottom portion 28. Bottom portion 28 has a 
lower surface 30 intended to support the bottle 10 with respect to 
horizontal surfaces such that the axis Z is oriented substantially 
vertically. The bottom portion 28 is shown to include a heel portion 32 
for orienting the container during filling operations. 
The body portion 22 is shown to comprise a generally cylindrical side wall 
34 which is generally equal-distant from the axis of rotation Z. The 
generally cylindrical side wall 34 is interrupted by an opposed pair of 
indentations 36 which permit the container to be easily gripped between a 
thumb and fingers of one hand. The relationship between the two 
indentations 36 is shown most clearly in FIG. 2. 
The indentations 36 each include a first vertical surface 38 and a second 
generally vertical surface 40. The vertical surfaces 38 and 40 have 
outside edges 42 and 44 respectively which unitarily join the cylindrical 
side wall 34. The first and second surfaces 38 and 40 have a common edge 
46 continuously joining the two surfaces 38 and 40. Each of the 
indentations further include an upper and lower generally triangular 
portions 48 and 50 which unitarily join the top and bottom edges of the 
first and second surfaces to the cylindrical body portions 22. 
As can best be seen in FIG. 2, the second vertical surface 40 is inclined 
with respect to the fist vertical surface 38 at an obtuse angle somewhat 
more than 145.degree.. The first surfaces 38 of the two indentations 36 
are shown to be substantially parallel to each other and substantially 
parallel to a medial plane X vertically bisecting the container 10 of 
diameter D. The common edges 46 joining the first and second vertical 
surfaces 38 and 40 are shown to lie on a common diameter Y normal to the 
medial plane X and spaced from the axis about 0.4 times the diameter D. 
The vertical length of the first vertical plane 38 shown to be about 60% of 
the vertical length of the body portion 22. The horizontal width of the 
first vertical plane 38 is shown to be about twice the width of the second 
vertical surface 40. Horizontal width of the first vertical surface is 
about 0.3 times the diameter D of the cylindrical body portion of the 
container. 
A plurality of reinforcing means 52 are provided which extend continuously 
over at least a major portion of the horizontal width of the first and 
second surfaces 38 and 40 and the common edge 46, the reinforcing means 
inhibiting the everting of the indentations 36. As illustrated, the 
reinforcing means comprise a plurality of horizontal ribs projecting 
outward from the first and second surfaces. FIG. 3 shows an enlarged 
detailed view of the preferred embodiment of the reinforcing ribs where 
the ribs are generally triangular in cross section and the angle at the 
apex 54 of the ribs is about 140.degree.. The outermost portion of the rib 
projects outwardly a distance T which is about three or four times the 
average wall thickness of the body portion 22 of the container. In a 1.75 
liter container as illustrated the vertical dimension V of each 
reinforcing rib is about 3/8 of an inch. 
In tests conducted on bottles constructed in accordance with the present 
invention, the bottles have been filled with liquid and dropped at varyinq 
heights. While the hand-grip indentations on similar prior art bottles 
evert when dropped between one and two feet, the hand-grip portion of the 
bottles of the present invention do not evert even when dropped distances 
exceeding six feet. 
Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the 
illustrated preferred embodiment, variations and modifications exist 
within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and as defined 
in the following claims: