CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application represents the national stage entry of PCT International Application No. PCT/EP2018/054952 filed on Feb. 28, 2018 and claims priority to Great Britain Patent Application 1703164.2 filed on Feb. 28, 2017, and Great Britain Patent Application 1708093.8 filed May 19, 2017. The contents of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to hollow plastic containers for packing, storage and transport of fluids, with integrated handles for carrying and handling, as well as integrated chimes for stackability.

BACKGROUND

Stackable hollow plastic containers like jerry cans, are available with integrated handles for carrying and handling, and have shapes that allow them to be stackable one on top of each other for easier storage and transport. Such containers are widely used for packing liquids such as water, edible oils, and cleaning chemicals, which are not stored under pressure. For the cases where a product is packed under pressure, like carbonated beverages (e.g. beer), these available containers are not suitable, because their shape that provides stackability (usually cuboid or cylindrical with flat ends) is not suitable to withstand internal pressure.

For a plastic container to withstand the necessary internal pressure, its shape is restricted to being spherical or cylindrical with rounded ends, which does not allow for stackability. Furthermore, containers for packing products under pressure must be made from strong plastics like PET, otherwise they must be very heavy and, therefore, uneconomical. As a result, most plastic containers for pressurised packaging like beer kegs, are made from PET and have cylindrical shapes with rounded ends. Such containers are not stackable due to their shape, so in order to make them stackable for ease of storage and transport, they are either placed inside other containers like carton boxes or they are fitted with separately moulded parts (chimes and handles). The chimes are separate plastic parts that fit on the top of the containers and many times also at the bottom, and have shapes that allow the containers to be stacked on top of each other. Chimes usually include hollow parts that can be used as handles for carrying and handling the containers.

An example of prior art is DE102009044314A1 (KRONES AG), where the plastic container is fitted with two separately moulded parts, one at the base and one near the neck of the container, enabling stackability. Alternatively, to achieve stackability the container is placed inside another container, which is cylindrical and has a lid. The solution of having a top chime and a bottom chime is also offered by US2013206762A1 (Andrew Smith et al). Prior art with containers having petaloid-shaped bases (self-standing) and fitted with separately moulded chimes and handles around the neck area for handling and transport, can be found in GB2485555A (Silvia Romana Marabini) and US2016039570A1 (KRONES AG). Another example of prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,892B1 (Przytulla Dietmar [DE] et al), where the handle holes are opened by punching after moulding, while US2016/090215A1 (Meinzinger Rupert [DE]) discloses a container with a carrying element which can be adhered or snapped on.

There remains desire for containers including a handles and chimes, rendering them easy to carry, handle and stack but without adding substantially to the material cost and/or manufacturing complexity of the container.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a stackable plastic container comprising a neck area, a body portion comprising a base; an integral handle part located around the neck area of the container, in which the handle part comprises one or more handles for carrying and handling the container; and an integral first chime configured to receive and/or cooperatively engage the base of an identical container.

Embodiments of the disclosure, therefore, may provide a plastic container which is produced with ready incorporated handles and chimes, rendering it easy to carry, handle and stack. Advantageously such a container may be provided without resorting to separately manufacturing additional parts and assembling them onto the container. Embodiments of the disclosure remove the need for separate chimes, handles, or other outer containers like cartons. A further advantage of embodiments of the disclosure may be in providing a container which is more easily recycled.

The container may comprise two spaced apart handles.

The integral first chime may be substantially annular in shape. For example, the integral first chime may be substantially ovaloid or circular in shape.

The or each handle(s) and integral first chime may be integrally moulded.

The or each handle and integral first chime may be located at or adjacent the neck area of the container.

The container may be formed from PET raw material.

The container may have any suitable number of handles. The or each handle may have any suitable shape, for example an oblong handle.

The container may comprise a single integrated moulding. The container may be formed in a two-step moulding process. For example, the container may be formed by injection moulding and stretch blow moulding. The or each handle(s) and integral first chime may be formed during an initial injection moulding step. The body portion may be formed into its final profile in a subsequent blow moulding process.

The handle(s) and the integral first chime may be integrally moulded. For example, the handle(s) and integral first chime may be provided by a single component of the container.

The integral first chime may be configured to provide one or more handle.

The body portion may comprise a dome shaped base or a petaloid base. The base may be a spherical or an elliptical base.

The term “petaloid-shaped base” is used herein to refer to a base having a substantially spherical or elliptical shape with three or more outwardly extending protrusions. The container may be a self-standing container comprising a body portion comprising a petaloid base. The base may be substantially spherical or elliptical in shape with three or more outwardly extending protrusions. Preferably, the base comprises five outwardly extending protrusions. The shapes and dimensions of the protrusions are designed to enable the container to withstand internal pressure.

The container may further comprise a second chime configured to receive at least the base of the body portion. The second chime may be configured to provide stability to the container. The second chime and the body portion may be separably formed or integrally formed. The second chime may be configured to receive a dome shaped base of the body portion. The container comprising the second chime is preferably self-standing. The second chime may be configured to aid stability of the container, and in particular to aid stability of the container having a dome shaped base, when transported on for example roller conveyors.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a preform for a container as herein described, in which the preform comprises a neck area and a main preform body portion, in which the neck area comprises at least one handle and a chime.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for producing a stackable plastic container as herein described, comprising the steps of:providing a preform comprising a neck area and a main preform body portion, in which the neck area includes at least one handle and an integral first chime, andblow moulding the main preform body portion to form the final container profile.

The step of providing a preform may for example comprise injection moulding a preform.

The step of blow moulding the preform body portion may comprise placing the preform within a blow mould at a predetermined temperature; and stretching and blowing the preform inside the blow mould into a container such that the neck area does not change during stretch blowing, while the main preform body portion is stretched and blown into the shape the container.

The method for producing the container may further comprise placing the base of the body portion of the container within a second chime configured to receive the base.

The container of embodiment of the disclosure is formed with at least one integral handle and at least one integral first chime incorporated as integral part so that the container is produced as one piece. As a result, there is no requirement for additional processing steps to separately produce handles, chimes or other outer containers and to attach such handles, chimes and outer containers to the container, thus saving resources and production costs.

The containers according to embodiments of the disclosure have the advantage that the handles and chimes on the produced containers can be very rigid for secure handling and stacking of bigger sized containers that are heavy when filled. The containers of the present disclosure may also be transported stably along for example a roller conveyor.

The containers of embodiments of the disclosure are economical because the weight of the container can be less than the corresponding weight of containers with separately moulded handles and chimes, thus saving raw material costs.

A further economic advantage of embodiments of the disclosure is the simplified manufacturing process, which eliminates separate production of several parts and the assembly of such parts.

Another advantage of the containers in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure is that unlike the containers with separate parts, usually made from different materials, the main container, the handles and the chimes are made as one piece from the same raw material, thus making them very easily recyclable.

In contrast to separately moulded handles and chimes, the integrally formed handle(s) and chimes of the containers of embodiments of the disclosure cannot detach from the container, adding to the safety of the container in use.

