Patent ID: 6929138

Claim:
A hot-fillable plastic container, comprising: a blow molded plastic container body having a base, a finish opposite said base, and a sidewall extending therebetween; a portion of said sidewall having a plurality of panels positioned circumferentially about said sidewall portion to form a multi-sided sidewall structure; each adjacent pair of said panels interconnecting to form an angle therebetween and to form a continuous longitudinally-extending post structure therebetween; and at least selected ones of said panels having a section thereof formed outwardly bowed of the container at a radius of curvature within a predetermined range of radius of curvatures; said radius of curvature of each of said outwardly bowed sections extending on a plane perpendicular to an imaginary central axis extending longitudinally through the container; and said radius of curvature of each outwardly bowed section varying as said outwardly bowed section extends in a direction parallel to said imaginary central axis; whereby, when the container is hot-filled and capped and as the hot-filled and capped container is permitted to cool, said outwardly bowed section flattens to accommodate induced vacuum created within the capped and filled container.