Patent ID: 8646646

Claim:
A reinforced retortable plastic container, comprising: a bottom portion; and a retortable main body portion connected to the bottom portion, the main body portion having a plastic sidewall fabricated from a plastic material suitable for heat sterilization applications, wherein the sidewall includes a plurality of circumferentially extending first sidewall portions having a similar shape in plan view and a plurality of circumferentially extending second sidewall portions, each of the second sidewall portions being interposed between two adjacent first sidewall portions, wherein each of the second sidewall portions includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced vertical columns, and wherein adjacent second sidewall portions are rotationally staggered with respect to each other so that the vertical columns on one second sidewall portion are not aligned with the vertical columns of an adjacent second sidewall portion, and further wherein the main body portion has a mounting portion adapted to have a lid mounted thereto, the mounting portion including a substantially vertical sidewall portion that is unitary with the sidewall of the main body portion, the substantially vertical sidewall portion having a first outer radius and a mounting flange extending upwardly and outwardly at a first angle from the substantially vertical sidewall portion, the mounting flange having a second outer radius that is greater than the first outer radius.