Bottle-shaped container with base cap

Abstract: A bottle-shaped container with a base cap comprising: a bottle (1) including a body (2) and a semispherically convexed bottom (3) extending downward from the body (2): and a bottomed cylindrical base cap (7) securely attached to the bottom (3) for providing a support for the container: wherein said body (2) has a lower portion thereof having a reduced diameter formed with a tapered zone (4) for preventing a shrunk label attached thereto from slipping out: gaps (K) are formed between an upper end of an outer periphery of the bottom (3) and an upper end of a cylindrical side wall (8) of the base cap (7) as water inlets: water outlets (13) are formed in a bottom wall (10) of the base cap (7) for draining hot water from the base cap (7): and an intermediary zone with a vertical distance (t) is formed on an outer surface of the body (2) between the tapered zone (4) and an upper end of the base cap (7) to ensure the hot water to flow further down into the base cap through the gaps (K).

Description: The present invention relates to a blow-moulded heat and pressure resistant bottle-shaped container made of biaxially oriented synthetic resin and, especially but not exclusively, to the construction of a heat and pressure resistant bottle-shaped container having a semispherically convexed bottom for enhancing the pressure resistance thereof and a base cap securely attached to said bottom for providing support for the container. A wide variety of bottle-shaped containers made of biaxially oriented synthetic resin have been popularly used as containers for aerated or carbonated drinks. Particularly, bottles made of biaxially oriented polyethene terephthalate resin are popular because of their excellent properties, such as pressure resistance. In order to obtain a high pressure resistant bottle requiring less synthetic resin moulding material, a bottle having a semispherical bottom has been used. As apparent from the construction of the bottom of the bottle, the bottle is not selfstanding. Thus, a base cap with a cylindrical shape to provide support for the spherical bottom of the container has been fixed to the bottom of such a bottle to form the bottle shaped container. The bottle-shaped container of this type has been imparted with heat resistance by means such as heat-setting to achieve sufficient heat resistance against heating at time of filling the bottle with the liquid contents. When filling the bottle-shaped container with carbonated drink mixed with fruit juice and/or milk as well as other ingredients in the form of mixture (hereinafter simply referred to as "mixed carbonated drinks"), the container is sealed, and then showered by or bathed in hot water for a predetermined period of time for sterilization to be achieved by heating. In order to introduce hot water into a space between the semispherically shaped bottom and the base cap so that an outer surface of the bottom of the bottle covered by the base cap can come into direct contact with hot water and consequently the process of heating and sterilization can be carried out surely and effectively, water inlets are formed. Since a great number of bottles are heated and sterilized, hot water is usually supplied to the bottles by showering. Thus, said water inlets are normally produced in the form of many gaps arranged between an open end of the base cap and the outer surface of the bottle so that such gaps offer ease of introducing the hot water running from above along the outer surface of the bottle-shaped container into the space. The above described arrangement of providing water inlets in the form of many gaps between the base cap and the outer surface of the body of the bottle is advantageous because the hot water supplied by showering runs down along the outer surface of the body of the bottle and goes into the space between the bottom of the container and the base cap through the water inlets surely and smoothly, and such water inlets can be formed very easily. A bottle-shaped container of this type is attached around the body with a shrunk label which is made of heat-shrinking synthetic resin film for the purpose of protecting the contained mixed carbonated drink, indicating the content of the bottle and decorating the appearance of the container. This container is provided with ridges integrally formed with the bottle on the outer surface of its body for preventing the shrunk label from slipping out. One of the ridges is formed at the lower end of the body or at the boundary between the body and the bottom of the bottle and therefore located immediately above the gaps between the outer surface of the bottle and the base cap. When the ridge is located immediately above the gaps as described above, the hot water running down along the outer surface of the bottle is inevitably moved radially outwards as it passes over the ridge and can hardly go into the gaps located immediately therebelow so that consequently the bottom of the bottle may not be sufficiently heated. Especially, when the slipping out of the shrunk label is prevented by a shoulder with a reduced diameter and a ridge formed at the lower end of the body, the lower end of the shrunk label that surrounds the body can reach beyond the ridge and block the gaps of water inlets. Thus, the operation for applying and attaching the shrunk label to the bottle-shaped container has to be conducted not by the container manufacturer but by the drink producer after sterilization of the liquid content. Therefore, this results in not only an increased number of operational steps but also installation of additional equipment for applying and bonding shrunk labels by the drink producer thus pushing up the cost of the bottled final products. EP-A-0,230,816 discloses a base cap for a bottle-shaped container. The top edge of the base which engages the side of the bottle is spaced apart therefrom to allow water to flow past it round the side of the bottle. However the base has holes in its bottom close to the outside and the base is secured to the bottom of the bottle via adhesion in a circle round the base. This has a disadvantage that the water cannot flow all the way round the base of the bottle. In view of the above described problem of the prior art, it is therefore one aim of the present invention to provide a bottle-shaped container that ensures introduction of hot water running down along the outer surface of the body of the container into gaps provided between the bottle and the base cap as water inlets. Another aim of the present invention is to provide a bottle-shaped container that ensures introduction of the hot water into the gaps regardless of the presence of a shrunk label. According to the present invention, the above aims are addressed by providing a bottle-shaped container with a base cap comprising: a bottle including a body and a semispherically convexed bottom extending downwardly from the body; an inverted cylindrical base cap securely attached to the bottom for providing a support for the container; gaps are formed between an upper end of an outer periphery of the bottom and an upper end of a cylindrical side wall of the base cap as water inlets; and water outlets are formed in a bottom wall of the base cap for draining hot water from the base cap; in which a tapered zone of the body for preventing a shrunk label attached thereto from slipping out, whereby the said body has a lower portion thereof having a reduced diameter, the gradient of the said tapered zone being such that hot water running down along the outer surface of the bottle may not drop straight downwards from the outer surface; an intermediate zone with a vertical dimension is formed on an outer surface of the body between the tapered zone and an upper end of the base cap to ensure that the hot water flows further down into the base cap through the gaps; and a shrunk label attached to the bottle with its lower end arranged within the intermediate zone. The gaps are advantageously realized by forming vertical ridges arranged on an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical side wall of the base cap. However, means for forming the gaps are not limited to this construction. It is preferable that the distance through which the tapered zone extends vertically is approximately equal to the distance between the outer periphery of the upper end of the bottom and an outer periphery of the upper end of the base cap. Advantageously, gaps are also provided between the bottom and supporting wall portions of the base cap, to enable hot water to flow into the central portion of a bottom wall of the base cap. When a hermetically sealed bottle containing a mixed carbonated drink is subjected to a shower of hot water, the hot water runs down along the surface by its own weight, keeping contact with the surface, while heating the outer surface of the bottle. The hot water runs down along the outer surface of the bottle and eventually flows across the tapered zone of the body, where it tends to lose the contact with the surface of the body of the bottle. However, the intermediate zone covering a predetermined distance between the tapered zone and the upper end of the base cap is so formed that the hot water can regain contact with the outer surface of the bottle because of the ability of water itself to adhere to the outer surface of the bottle. Therefore, after the hot water flows across the tapered zone, the water can keep a close contact with the outer surface of the bottle eventually to get to the gaps. Since the gaps of the water inlets are formed between the outer surface of the bottle and the inner surface of the upper end portion of the base cap, the hot water coming down along the outer surface of the bottle can enter the base cap through the gaps without encountering obstacles and still keeping in contact with the outer surface of the bottle. Since the water in the base cap is gradually drained through the water outlets, additional hot water is always maintained in the base cap so that the bottom of the bottle is effectively heated. Because the hot water supplied to the outer surface of the bottle by showering always contacts with the outer surface of the bottle, it directly heats the entire area of the outer surface of the bottle by the time it reaches the lower end of the bottom of the bottle. Since the gaps are arranged between the outer surface of the bottle and the inner periphery of the upper end portion of the base cap and an intermediary zone having the predetermined distance is provided between the upper end of the base cap and the tapered zone, the hot water can be smoothly and efficiently introduced into the base cap so as to heat the bottom of the bottle effectively. An example of a bottle-shaped container made in accordance with the present invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which : Figure 1 is a front view of such a bottle showing a part of the base cap in section; Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing the area of connecting the bottle main body and the base cap; Figure 3 is a bottom view of the bottom of the base cap; and Figure 4 is a sectional view of the embodiment of Figure 1 cut along X-X line. A bottle 1 is constituted by a cylindrical body 2 having a tapered zone 4 so that a portion of the body below the tapered zone has a reduced diameter, a semispherically and convexly shaped bottom 3 extending downwardly from a lower end of the body 2, an arched and tapered shoulder 5 extending upwardly from an upper end of the body 2 and a neck 6 having a threaded outer surface and extending upwardly from an upper end of the shoulder 5. A base cap 7 is attached to the bottom 3 in a snap fitting manner and has a bottomed cylindrical shape. The base cap 7 has a cylindrical side wall 8 and a bottom wall 10 at a lower end of the side wall 8. An outer diameter of the side wall 8 is equal to an outer diameter of the body 2. A plurality of inwardly projected longitudinal ridges 9 are formed on an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical side wall 8 from an upper end to the lower portion of the side wall 8. The height of the ridges 9 is equal to the width of gaps K. The bottom wall 10 has a narrow peripheral portion arranged adjacent to the lower end of the cylindrical side wall 8 to provide a support for the bottle, a cylindrical supporting wall 11 extending upwardly from the narrow peripheral portion, and a central portion. A supporting wall portion 12 is an inclined portion between the cylindrical support wall 11 and the central portion. The base cap 7 is bonded to an outer peripheral surface of the bottom 3 at selected points on the supporting wall portion 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the bottom 3 and the supporting wall portion 12 are bonded by hot melt adhesive at four points 12' as indicated in Figure 3. An adhesive layer 12' has a thickness so that gaps are provided between the bottom 3 and the supporting wall portion 12. Thus, hot water can flow into the central portion of the bottom wall 10. Water outlets 13 are formed in the support and the central portion of the bottom wall 10. In the illustrated embodiment, three water outlets 13 are formed in the narrow peripheral portion and one water outlet 13 is formed in the central portion of the bottom wall 10. An outer diameter of the cylindrical side wall 8 of the base cap 7 is equal to that of the body 2 of the bottle 1. Thus, the bottle-shaped container has a very simple and plain appearance and can be securely kept standing when a large number of bottle-shaped containers are arranged adjacent to each other. The gaps K are formed by means of the ridges 9. Thus, the total area of the gaps K for introducing hot water can be sufficiently large. An outer surface of the bottle 1 is utilized to define the gaps K. Thus, the flowing hot water can smoothly enter the gaps without encountering obstacles. The angle of the tapered zone 4 with the longitudinal axis of the bottle 1 is relatively small (between 22° and 30°). This sufficiently prevents the hot water flowing down along the outer surface of the bottle 1 from being released from the outer surface at the tapered zone 4 to fall straight downwards. Therefore, the hot water successfully enters the gaps K. An intermediary zone is formed on the body 2 of the bottle 1 between an upper end of the base cap 7 and the tapered zone 4 with a longitudinal distance t. Thus, a lower end of a shrunk label attached around the body 2 of the bottle 1 can be placed somewhere in this zone with the distance t such that the shrunk label cannot constitute an obstacle for the hot water flowing down to enter into the gaps. Therefore, the shrunk label can be fitted to the bottle-shaped container in the container manufacturer's facility so that the drink producer does not have to introduce additional operational steps and install additional equipment which are obviously out of the scope of his profession. A bottle-shaped container according to the present invention which is constructed in a manner as described above can provide the following effects. Since the hot water supplied to the outer surface of the bottle flows down to the outer surface of the bottom of the bottle through the gaps in a secured and smooth manner, the liquid content of the container can be heated and sterilized surely and effectively. Since the lower end of the shrunk label attached around the bottle can be placed in the intermediary zone between the tapered zone and the upper end of the base cap, the attached shrunk label never constitutes an obstacle that prevents the hot water from entering the gaps. Since the shrunk label can be attached to the bottle in the container manufacturer's facility, the drink producer is not required to introduce any additional work and facility for attaching the shrunk label to the bottle and therefore can reduce the cost and improve the quality of the product. Since the bottle-shaped container can have a simple appearance and be kept stably in its standing position during transportation, the operations of filling it with liquid and sterilization can be conducted securely and effectively.

Claims: A bottle-shaped container with a base cap comprising: a bottle (1) including a body (2) and a semispherically convexed bottom (3) extending downwardly from the body (2); an inverted cylindrical base cap (7) securely attached to the bottom (3) for providing a support for the container; gaps (K) are formed between an upper end of an outer periphery of the bottom (3) and an upper end of a cylindrical side wall (8) of the base cap (7) as water inlets; and water outlets (13) are formed in a bottom wall (10) of the base cap (7) for draining hot water from the base cap (7); characterised by a tapered zone (4) of the body (2) for preventing a shrunk label attached thereto from slipping out, whereby the said body (2) has a lower portion thereof having a reduced diameter, the gradient of the said tapered zone (4) being such that hot water running down along the outer surface of the bottle (1) may not drop straight downwards from the outer surface; an intermediate zone with a vertical dimension (t) is formed on an outer surface of the body (2) between the tapered zone (4) and an upper end of the base cap (7) to ensure that the hot water flows further down into the base cap through the gaps (K); and a shrunk label attached to the bottle with its lower end arranged within the intermediate zone. A bottle-shaped container according to claim 1, characterised in that the said gaps (K) are realised by forming vertical ridges (9) arranged on an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical side wall (8) of the base cap (7). A bottle-shaped container according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that the distance through which the tapered zone (4) extends vertically is approximately equal to the distance between the outer periphery of the upper end of the bottom (3) and an outer periphery of the upper end of the base cap (7). A bottle-shaped container according to any preceding claim, characterised in that gaps are also provided between the bottom (3) and supporting wall portions (12) of the base cap (7), to enable hot water to flow into the central portion of a bottom wall (10) of the base cap (7).

Inventors: HAYASHI YOSHIAKI, HAYASHI, YOSHIAKI
Applicants: YOSHINO KOGYOSHO CO LTD, YOSHINO KOGYOSHO CO., LTD.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B65D23
IPC codes: B65D25, B65D1, B65D23