Patent ID: 7861876

Claim:
A plastic bottle comprising: a base, a sidewall having a lower edge coupled to the base, the sidewall extending upward from the base to a sidewall upper edge, a shoulder portion coupled to the sidewall upper edge and leading upward and radially inward to a neck portion, a finish coupled to the neck portion adapted to receive a closure, the finish surrounding an opening leading to a plastic bottle interior, the sidewall including a plurality of vacuum responsive panels uniformly spaced around a sidewall periphery, each vacuum responsive panel including a panel surface radially inset from the sidewall, posts, having upper and lower ends, separating each vacuum responsive panel from nearest neighbor vacuum responsive panels, the upper and lower ends of the posts being joined together by the sidewall upper edge and the sidewall lower edge, and a margin located at least at upper and lower edges of each vacuum responsive panel extending between the panel surface and the sidewall, at least one of the margins located at the upper and lower edges of each vacuum responsive panel including an axially offset intruding portion at a center of one of the upper and lower edges of each vacuum responsive panel, the axially offset intruding portion focusing any initial deflection of the panel surface in response to decreasing pressure within the bottle, the axially offset intruding portion forming a curved surface extending between the panel surface and the adjacent sidewall, the curved surface being perpendicular to the sidewall at the upper or lower edge of the sidewall and becoming substantially coplanar with the panel surface.