Patent ID: 8496130

Claim:
A one-piece plastic container comprising: an upper portion, a sidewall portion and a base portion, said sidewall portion being integrally formed with and extending from said upper portion to said base portion, said base portion closing off an end of the container; said sidewall portion defined in part by a plurality of horizontal ribs arranged substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the container, at least one of the horizontal ribs being disposed longitudinally between an upper land and lower land, a cross section of the at least one of the horizontal ribs taken parallel to the longitudinal axis being defined by an upper wall, a lower wall, and an inner curved wall that extends between the upper and lower walls, the inner curved wall being curved along an innermost radius, the at least one of the horizontal ribs transitioning to the upper land along an upper outer radius, the at least one of the horizontal ribs transitioning to the lower land along a lower outer radius, a sum of the upper and lower radii being at least 0.14 inches and at most 0.28 inches, the at least one of the horizontal ribs defining an acute angel that is variable according to vacuum forces generated within the container to thereby accommodate the vacuum forces.