Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
t Related Appli~akion . .
. ~ I - ~ This~application is rela~ed ~o German .
Offenleg~l~as~chrif~ 2,731,635.:
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¦~ ~he In~ention. ..
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¦ The present invention relates to composite pac~ages
for containing ~ri~us products including comestiklès and
I! pressurized fluids; more particularly the invention relates
O ~ ¦i to a composite package comprised of an uprightly unstable
!~ boktle having a separate support base or cup with the bo~tle
¦, and ba~e being attached by means of a heat shrunk pre-
3 . ' decoraked sleeve.
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Biaxially oriented thermoplastic bottle~ are
~, ;
receiving much attention as candidates to replace glass bo.tles~
. presently being used to contain carbonated soft drinks, beer,
aerosols and the like The thermoplastics from which these
~;, . bottles are made and which are receiving most wide acceptance
are the polyesters~ for example polyesters comprised of the
polymeric reaction product o~' ethylene glycol (including it;s
esters) and terephthalate acid (including its esters) as
I well as the so-called high nitrile polymers. The latter
'10 I polyrners are generally ref'erred to in the trade as Lopac or
¦ Barex materials. In oraer to increase the strength quali.ty
i of such bottles and to maximize production e~ficiencies and,
from an overall point of view, to make khese bottles more
I economically competitive with glass .it has been found
L5 j necessar~ to form such bottles with a convex bottom portion,
¦ ûbvlously this convex bottom portion creates an uns-table bottle
~:~ and hence there is a need to support the bottle and, in that
respect.~ various types ot' support bases are integrally and
~' ! securely attached to the bottle. Exemplax~- o~ such bottles
0 ¦ with their support bases are those set forth in U. S. Patent
Nos. 3,722,725, ~.,9L18,40~, 3,726,429 and 3,927,7829 Another
such support baee which is securely attached to these bottles
is that set for1;h in.u. S. Patent 4,082,200.
As ~ill be
~5 I appreciated from these patents,
. extensive capital investment is required to provid
1~ f'or an appropriate commercial assembly device whe.reby the
-8 1' bases are secured to the bottles. ThiSJ plus the àirect cost,
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1 j in assem'~ling the base to the bottle is re~lected in increased
j prices to the ultimate consumer which adversely affects the
! competi~iveness o~ such packages with glass. Additionally in
¦ packages of the type described above in spite o~ precautions
~5 ¦ and e~forts to solve the problem a situation arises wherein
, the area~ or volume, between the internal surface of base and
¦! the e~ternal sur~ace of the bottle is in*estation prone Tha~
~ ¦ is in spite of attemp~s to provide for a tight reliable seal
.: ¦ o~ the base to the bottle to preclude infestation it has not
~10 ¦ been commercially and economically possible to xeliably do
this and hence dirt~ liquids, such as for example syrups,
j water, warehouse insects, and the like gain entry into the
above-re~erred to zone and cause the occurrence of mould and
~` ! even the formation of obnoxious odors; this, obviously, is
I unsatisfactory~ Additionally because of such seepage or en~ry
.~ ¦ into the zone washing of the containers is not suitably
; I practiced since it simply enhances the problem ox else drain ~ ;
~`~ ! holes must be provided in the base, ~he latter approach, while
.. solving one problem~ only creates another. . :.
O~ ¦ In the above-referred rela-te~ German OLS
` ! 2,731,635-, - . .
the problem o~ infestation is ~ocused upon and is :
solved by employing a heat shrunk annular pre-decorated
sleeve label to preclude entrant o~ con~aminants between the
base and the bottle. Un~ortunately, however, while -tha~
'~9 1~ related application has many bene~its it is still subject to
i; i the problem -that in the mass production of such packages the I :
IB ¦ step must still be practiced ~?herein the base is securely
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1 l; attached to the bott:le prior -to positioninrr a i-lc~at shrinka'ole
¦~ pxe-decorated sleeve labe:L about the bottle and base which
sleeve label :is i;hen heated to bring it into heat shrunk
engagement with the bottle and base. In order~ of' course, to
I provide ~or the secure attachment oE the base to the bottle
those respective members are provided wi-th complex con~iguratio11s
to provide ~or the inter-engagement o~ elements o~ these two
members which will result in the secure attachment. This o~
I course requires complex mold designs which :in turn adversely
a~fects costs of manuf'acturing and the abili-ty of such
packages to economically compete with glass. That is -the m~lds
which are employed to ~orm t'he bottles are expensive because
of the con~iguration ~hich must be prov:ided to the bottle~
; 1 likewise injection molding techniques have been employed to
¦ produce the supporting base since this base ~ypically requires
a configuration which is most suitably ~ormed by such
injection molding techni~ues. The latter o~ course has its
economic and competitive de~iciencies~
~n accordance wi-th ~he presen-t inven~ion an improve-
I ment is pxovided which will allow the packages o~ the genera'l
i type referred to above to be produced a~ much lower costs and
; thereby to be more economically com~eti-tive with glass. Such
1 packages are supplied with a pre-decorated label and hence
¦ the additional step of providing a label on the bottle,
l typically done by -the bo-~-tler~ is no-t necessary~ hence also
; reducing cost and, ~urthermore, the above-referred ~o
27 l( in~esta-tion problem will not exist. The above advantages are
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:1 : a'~tained by employing a heat shrin~able pre-decor~t~d ann~lar
¦. label o~ the type set forth in related Ger~an
: ¦l OLS 2,73i,635 as
¦ substantially the sole means ~or attaching the base and ~he
1 ~ottle. That is, ~he bottle ancl base elements o~ the assembly ¦
' are now so designed so that the base loosely supports the
bottle and then the heat shrinkable pre-decorated sleeve is
:~ employed as substantially the sole means to secure ~he base
~ f to the bottle in a unitized fashion This approach allows for
.LO molds to be employed ~or the bottle which are produced ~nuch
¦ ~ore cheaply because the complex configurations of the prior
art are not needed to provide for secure inter-engagement o~ ¦ :
the bottle with the base. Similarly, the base pc>rtions can
! be more cheaply manu~actured ~or example by simpler, cheaper. .`
.5 ~oxming techniques like vacuum ~orming a sheet because-~hey
¦ are o~ a simpler con~iguration inasmuch as they no longer need ..
be provided with complex con~igurations for inter-engagement ¦
. with the configuration o~ the bot-tles to provide ~or the secure
~: ¦ attachment......................................................... ~ :~
In accordance with the present invention and unlike .
the prior art referred to above the bottle supportîng base . --
,~ ana a thermoplas-tic bo~tle which is uprightly unstable need
; ~ only be so configured that the base loosely supports the bottle ~:~
¦ in an upright position and there is no need~ discountîng the
f~3 ¦ heat shrunk pre-decora~ed label, to provide for the secure
attachment of the base to the bottle, in this way less complex
. , assembly machinery is needed s:ince all that is re~uired is that
,~ ,
1 ! the base loosely support the bottle in an uprightly stable !
i I position; this in ~urn will allow ~or more expedien-t and .
cheaper production.
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1 , As ~lill be appa~ent by ref~erence to the above pa~ents,
- jj the supporting base and bottle ~re
in secure telescopic coaxial relationship and once assembled
~ .
, the axis of the bottle cannot be conveniently inclined wi~h
¦ respect to the-axis of the base nor is the base easily
'~ !! separated ~rom the bottle. In short they are designed to be
i securely attached so as to withstand the rigor of commercial
~ acceptance e.g.~ being able to pass through a bottler's plant
¦ and being used by consumers. Thus as contemplated herein ~Jhen
L0 I reference is made to the bottle being loosely supported by, or
¦ loosely positioned upon, a base~ or ~hat the base loosely
¦' supports the bottle, or the like~ there is contemplated
situations wherein~ unlike the above,'the axis of the bottle ~ ;
I can be easily inclined with respect to the axis of the base or,
;~ ¦ and again unlike 'the above-xeferred to patents, and
¦ applications~ the base and the bottle can be easily separated
by xelative axial movement of those members and, but for and
discounting ~he sleeve label~ the base and bottle per se cannot
wi~hstand the rig~r of commercial acceptance.
I U. S. Patent No. 3,~82,724, and its parent
¦ application U. S. Pate~t No. 3,372,826, discloses a glass
¦ container having a convex bottom and a base there~or which ~'
base may be applied by heat shrinking.
j ¦ U. S. Patent No. 3,002,640 discloses a ~oamed
;~ ~ polystyrene sleeve, which may have a printing thereon, about
~ragile articles such as~ for example, glass or eggs. The
sleeve is applied by slipping over the article~ or by
stretching it over to provide a snug fit, or by heating ~
'~ ~' expand the thic~ness.
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1 ; U. S~ Patent ~o ~,51~2~229 disclose~ the application
o~ a shrunk-on band, which may include a decora~ion~ O:e a
stretchab:le heat shrinkable film material~ for exarnple polyvinyl
. ~ chloride film, onto a thermoplastic bottle; the ends o~ the
~, band may be ~oined by gluing, sealing, or welding.
U. S. Patent No. 3,677,774 is directed to the
i ~ormation of a multi-pack of plural bottles, ~or example
¦ polyvinyl chloride bo-ttles, which have a sleeve and which pack
o~ plural bottles are in a heat sealed envelope; the envelope .
contacts only part of the respect:ive containers, i.e. the
envelope does not periphera.lly con-tact the bottle and/or sleeve9
and contains pressurlzed carbon dio~ide.
U. S. Patent No. ~ 62,327 discloses an uprightly
I stable bottle, a foamed polystyrene receptacle member .
~l encircling the bottle,a shrunk~on skin o~ vi.nyl, which can be
¦ seamed, surrounas the receptacle member, and a base which is
welded to the shrunk-on skin. . .
l U. S. Patent No. 3,955,020 discloses a self supportirlg
¦ uprightly stable glass container having a plastic film and
¦ what is called a film cup placed over the heel o~ the contai.ner
U. S. Patent No. 3,912,100 discloses an uprightl.y stable glass
. . bottle having a bottom ~ilm covering and a heat shrunk sleeve
I ~ contac~ing the film and glass surface. U. S. Patent No.
. ~ 3,698~586 discloses an uprightly stable glass container having
.25 j a heat shrunk cup on its bottom and a plastic ~ilm~ which may
: I be a heat shrinkable plastic sleeve, covering the glass
27 !~ container above the cup. .
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1 As will ~e rea.di:Ly apparent~ none ~:r' the I'ore~,o:ing
i patents describe the present :invention and represent on'Ly
isolated disclosures which are not directed to solving the
1 problem solved by applicant nor to satisf'ying the need
¦, satisfied by applican~.
1~ Thus, in accordance with this invention'there is
!~ provided a pac~age comprising an uprightly unstable thermo- I
¦, plastic bottle having a generally conveY~ bottorn and a
¦~ peripheral sidewall extending upwardly therefrom, a pre~ormed
¦ base directly con-tacting and loosely suppor~ing said bottle
¦ in an upright position, and pre-decorated, heat shrunk, annular
: I label means in tight uni-tizing peripheral engagement w:Lth
externally exposed side surfaces of said base and sidewall for ¦
, securely and integrally attaching said bottle and base, said
- 15 ¦ means being substantially the sole means for such attachment.
¦~ In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this
¦ invention the pre~ormed base which loosely supports the upright
ly unstable bo-ttle includes a peripheral package support surface'
and a generally tubular sidewall proceedin~ u.pwardly there- ¦
'20 !~ from wi~h the sidewall including a peripheral outwardly and
¦¦ upwardly extending ledge portion and wherein a portion of the'
-1~ label means extends inwardly and downwardly in heat shrunk
¦l tight contact with the ledge.
~' l ln accordance with another preferred embodiment of
1l this invention the peripheral sidewall of the uprightly unstable
, bottle, adjacent the bottom, includes an inwardly offset
i sidewall portion and a portion of the tubular peripheral
~ sidewall on the base is in telescopic contact wi.th a portion
29 ~ of that inwardly oifset sidewall portion.
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1 i The present invent:ion w:i:ll be more apparent by
re~erence to -the dra~ings wherein:
~ igure 1 is a side elevation view illus-trating the
¦! present invention;
¦~ ~igure 2 is a parkial sectional view more clearly
1~ showing the bot-tom portion o~ a package in accordance with
¦~ the presen~ invention;
Figure 3 illustrates the sleeve label used in
I accordance with this invention; and
~ Figure 1~ is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating
¦ an alternate embodiment of this invention.
lnitially, in accordance with this invention, khere
I is provided a heat shrinkable organic polymeric pre-decorated
j sleeve label with khe label having a high hea-t shrinkage in
¦ the circum~erential direc-tio~ of the sleeve and a low heak
¦ shrinkage in the axial direction o:~ ~he sleeve. The sleeve is
¦ o~ su~ficien-t axial length so tha~ upon being heat shrunk it
¦ is brought into snug encircling engagement with the external
¦ sur~aces o~ the botkle and of the base and spans the upper
~ terminus o~ the base ko seal any opening between the botkle and~
the base immediately adjacent the upper terminus o~ the base. I
I Pre~erably the sleeve label comprises a heak shrinkable closed !
¦ cellular thermoplastic organlc polymer.
I Exemplary of suitable polymers are the polyole~ins,
' like polyethylene and polypropylene, and copolymers o~ ethylene
. wi-th a:Lpha-beta monoethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids,
i~ e.g. ~crylic or methacrylic acid~ or their alkyl esters~ e.g.
28 those containing 1-~ carbon a-toms in the alkyl group like ethyl
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acrylate or copolymers of ethylene with vinyl es-ters, like vinyl acetate. In
the foregoing the olefin moiety will be vastly predominant, i.e., in excess
of about 60% by weight, desirably in excess of 70% and preferably in excess of
about 80 or 90~. Exemplary of other sleeve lakels as con-templated herein are
those cellular/non-cellular composite laminates as set forth in German OLS
2,539,843 and Belgian Patent 833,165 and British patent 1,526,424. Extremely
outstanding results are obtained wherein the sleeve label comprises a closed
cellular polystyrene, for example crystalline general purpose polystyrene
having a weight average molecular weight on the order of about 100,000 to
about 320,000 and with the label having a thickness of abou~ .005 to about
.040 inches and a density of about 6 to about 40 pounds per cubic footO Out-
standing results are obtained by employing such a closed cellular polystyrene
sheet and producing the heat shrinkable sleeve i~l accordance wi-th the teach-
ings of U.S. Patent No. 3,767,496. In accordance with the procedure of that
patent a cellular tubular member is extruded from a circular die and is
inflated as it issues from the die-head to provide for a cross, or trans-
verse, stretching and orientation of the material and the inflated tukular
m~mber is likewise stretched or drawn in the machine direction of extrusion _
to provide a machine direction orientation with both of these orientations
being set by air cooling of the tubular me~ber. m e stretching and cooling
produces an orientation which, in turn, results in the
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1 capabili~;y oE'-the materlal to heat shr:in~ ~7hen subsequently
. exposed to heat. The machine direction of heat shrinkage is
high and the cross direction hea-t shrinkage will be low~ i.e.
I the ratio of the heat shrinkage in the mach-ine direction to
ii the hea-t shrinkage in the cross direction will be greater than ¦
1 and, pre~erably, greater than 2:1 with quite desirable values
~ being tha-t the machine direction o:E' heat shrinkage is in excess
¦. of about 60% and the cross direc-tion of heat shrinkage is less
¦i than about 30% Outs-tanding results are obtained by
¦! suf~icien~ stretching to obtain a hea~ shrinkage in the machine !
¦ direc-tion of greater than 65% and a heat shrinkage in the
¦ cross direction of less than about 20%. The in~lated tubular
I heat shrinkable material is then sli.t and trimmed to obtain a
¦ sheet o~ roll s-tock which sheet o~ roll-s-tock is decora-ted so
li that the decoration reads properly in the machine direction o~ i
¦l extrusion. The decora-ted sheet is then~ in turn3 cut in-to -¦
¦' smaller rec-tilinear sheets and then formed in-to a sleeve type
¦¦ pre-decora~ed label by wrapping these sheets, on a mandrel,
~i' with the rnachine direction of extrusion corresponding to'the ¦-
¦' circumferential direction of the sleeve to be formed and the
¦~ cross direction of extrusion corxesponding to the axial
direction of` the to be ~ormed sleeve, and then bringing opposedj
I ends together and joining them to :E-orm a sleeve with an axial
¦¦ seam therealon~ Preferably the opposed ends are brought into
¦! overlapped relationshlp and heat sealed ~o provide ~or a
' pre decora-ted sleeve label with an overlapped axially heat
sealed seam. Whi:Le thus ~ar it has not been necessary to do
28 ' so, i~ employing a heat shrinkable pxe-decorated sleeve label
,
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1 compr:is:l.ng a c:Losed cel:l.ular :Eo3lned po:Ly-c;-tyrene as desc:r:ibed
j . above and emp:loying a biaxia:Lly oriented theImoplastic bo~tle
1, of an e-thylene glycol (:including its esters)-terephthalic acid
¦ (including its esters) reaction product. depending o~ the
. speci-fic app:Lication and mater:La:ls employed it may be desirable,
i to include pleats in the sleeve ~1hich ru~ paral:lel to the axial.
¦ seam. These plea-ts may be ~ormed in accordance with the
teachings se-t ~orth :Ln U. S. Patent No. 3,951,292 ~hich i.s
. I directed to a pilfer~proof, heat shrunk neckband for a glass
container and closure.
¦ ~eferring now more particularly to the drawings it
will be seen that essentially the packages contem~lated herein i
include an uprightly unstable thermoplastic bottle generally
designated 10~ a preformed base 50 directly contacting and
~ loosely supporting the bottle in an upright position, a pre-
¦ decorated heat shurn~ annular label means~ or sleeve 60~ in
i tight unitizing heat shrunk peripheral engagement with
externally exposed side, or lateralg surfaces of ~he base and
I bottle for securely and integrally ~ttaching bottle 10 and
, base 50~ with the pre-decorated heat shrunk annular sleeve
label 60 being substantially the sole means ~or the secure
¦ attachment o~ base 50 to bottle 10. As illustrated in Figure 1
I~ and Figure 2~ bottle 10 includes a peripheral sidewall 16
¦! which merges with a convex bottom 18 and peripheral sidewall 16
i includes~ somewhat centrally located thereon, a peripheral
gripping groove 22 and at i-ts upper margin a neck, or ~inish,
portion 12 and disposed immediateLy below ~inish 12 a neck
,, support ledge 14~ Pre~erably bottle 10 will be a biaxially
29 ~ oriented poly(ethylene terephthalate) bottle
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:L Pre~'ormed base 50 wh:ich loosely supports bottle 10
j is f'or3ned from a material having suf'~ic.ient rigidity and
' strength to suppor~ the bottle v.prightly i.n the cornpleted
l.. package f'orm. This base may be formed by vacuum forming
1'~ techniques ~ro~ a sheet of a suitable organic polymer,
pre:Ferably a thermoplas-tic polymer~ with an especially suitable
!~ material being high dens.ity polyeth5~1ene A suitable thickness.
jl ~or base 50 will be a thickness of abou.t 0.025 inch~ ~ase 50
¦ includes a package support surface 56 and a generall~ tubular
i pe.riphera:l sidewall proceeding upwardly there~rom. The
generally tubular peripheral sidewall of base 50 includes a
peripheral reentrant por-tion ~7 which is partially de~ined by
a peripherai upwar~ly and outwardly extending :Ledge 58 Base 5d
I is provided with a central portion 59 which merges with ~he
¦ package support sur~ace 56. As seen in Figure 2, in a pre~erre9
embodimentJ.convex botkom 18 o~ botkle 10 is supported on
I central portion 59 of' base 50 and the internal sur~ace of the
upwardly and outwardly extending ledge 58 also supports botkle
. ¦ 10. Thus as will be appreciated from Figure 2 bot~le ~0 and
Ij base 50 are brought into axial alignmenk with the base S
¦t lQosely supporting boktle 10. . .
i In order -to uni~ize base 50 and bottle 10 and to
!l securely attach these elements there is khen employed a hea~
. - 1, shrinkable pre-decorated sleeve or label generally design2ted
!~ 60 as more clearly seen in Figure 3 This sleeve is ~ormed in
the manner previously described and includes a decoration 62
j~ thereon and an axial seam 61~, pre~erably a heat sealed over-
~l lapped seam. Decoration 62 in khe usual embodiment will
29 l either be conti.nuous about sleeve 60 over 360; or it will be
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1 o~' a repeat:ing patke~n about the c.irc~l~nf'ere~lce of' ~he s:l.ee-~e,
~or convenience decora,tion 62 i.s not, illustrated in the other
. figures but i-t TJill of course be apparent that such decoration
~i will be present. Generally~ it will be pre~erred to produce
¦! the pre-decora-ted heat shrinkable sleeve in a slightly
1~ elliptical configuration suc'h that the minor axis thereof'~
¦, be suf~iciently small so that as it :is positioned about bottle.!
10 and base 50 -to encircle externally disposed sur~aces o~
I bottle 10 and base 50 the sleeve will be held thereon by
¦ fric~ional engagement until such time as ~he package .LS
j subjected to heat at a tempera-ture and for a time su~icient
¦ to bring the heat shrinkable pre-decorated sleeve label into
¦ heat shrunk snug engagement with externally exposed surfaces .
i o~ bottle 10 and base 50. The axial height of sleeve 60 will
~ usually be so selected that~ upon shrinkage~ its upper terminus
t will be located in the lower two thirds o~. the axial height of
.- I the package and usually its lower terminus will be disposed
¦ slightly v.pwardly o~ the package support sur~ace 56 of base 50,
! A~ditionally, usually the axial height o:~ bzse 50 will be so
: 20 1¦ selected that its upper terminus wi.ll generally be in the
lower 1/~ o~ the axial heigh~ of the package. Thus~ a-~tex the ,
, bottle,10 and bas,e 50 have been encircled ~ithin the sleeve
: 1¦ label~ base 50 and bottle 10 are securely and integrally
¦~ attached by hea-t shrinking the sleeve to bring into peripheral
~ engagemen~ wi-th lateral sur~ace portions o~ base 50 adjacen-t
,' its upper termînus-. Usually this is done by chucking the
i' bottle by its neck and rota-ting it and applying ho-t air to
28 l~ heat shrinkable sleeve label 60. While the heating cycle~ l.e"~
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:L the temperature and time, ~lill vary ~Jith various materiQls,
caution should be exercised when employing a biaxially oriented
Ij thermoplastic bottle so tha-t the heating is insuf~icient to
! cause any substan-tial deformation o~ the bottle. ~s an example,
¦ ~hen employing a biaxially oriented polytethylene terephthalate)
bo-ttle lO and a sleeve ~hich has been ~ormed in the manner
¦ described above ~rom a closed cellular cxystalline gener&l
¦i purpose polystyrene having a density o~ about l~ pounds per
li cuhic .~oot and a thickness of about 0~015 inches wlth a heat
! shrinkage in the circu~ferential direction o* the sleeve o.~
about 70% and an axial heat shrinkage o* about 10%, temperaturer-
I on ~he order o~ abou-t 350F. *or about 6 seconds are ~ui-te
¦ suitable to obtain outstanding resul-ts
~ As will be seen from Figure 2~ and generally in
i Figure l~ upon being heat shrunk, sleeve 60 is brought into
peripheral, snug~ non~ elded~ non-melted~ non-adhesively
secured heat~shrunk engagement with externally exposed sur~ace~s
Il o~ peripheral sidewall 16 and the externally sxposed surfaces
¦l of the tubular peripheral sidewalI o~ base 50~ More speci~ically,
jj it will be observed that upon heat shrinkage sleeve 60 shrinks !
¦i into contour con~orming engagement with reentran-t portion 57
I with ~he portion 66 of sleeve 60 immediately outwardly o~ ledge
.~ i 58 proceeding inwardly and downwardly in heat shrunk engagement
therewith~ thus greatly ~acilita-ting the gripping, secure
il attach~ent o~ base 50 to bottle lO~ It will also be observed
in Figure 2 -tha~ sleeve 60 upon heat shrinkage preclucles entry
'. o* contaminants bet~1een base 50 and bottle lO since i-~ spans
the upper -terminus o:~ base 50 and is heat shrunk against
adJacent portions o~ the bottle and base, hence blocking an~r
30 - possible openings ~lhicn would allow contaminant access.
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1 Rei'er.r:i.ng no~l L;o T~'igure 4 1i~e nvrnera:Ls designate ¦' like features as set forth previously. As lsi:Ll be seen irl i
, Figure ~ peripheral sidewall 16 adjacent bottom l$ inclwdes
~i an inwardly of~'set side~all portion 17. Additionally7 the
¦' upper margin of ledge 58 of base 50 merges ~ith an u.pper
tubular peripheral sidewall portion 59 ~Ihich is generally
vertically uprigh-t and which telescopically contacts the of~set
sidewall portion ~7 o~ bottle 10. Preferably the thickness oi
j upper tubular peripheral sidewall portion 59 is approximately
¦ equal to the di~erence between the radius ol o~fset portion
¦ 17 and the radius o~ the bottle sidewall irnmedia-tely adjacently
¦ upward of offset por-tion 17 D The procedure for forming the
j ~inal package of ~'igure 4 is generally the same as that
,l indica-ted above, namely~ bot-tle 10 is ~elescopically and
! loosely posi-tioned within base 50, with the offse-t sidewall
portion 17 being positioned inwardly of -the upper tubular
peripheral sidewall por-tion 59 of base 50 and sleeve label 60
is then encirclingly applied about and heat shrun~ to bring it
. I into snug~ peripheral, heat shrunk engagement with externally
j exposed sur~aces o~ base 50 and bottle 10. One of the advantag~ s
of the embodimen-t of Figure ~ is that the ex-ternal sur:~ace
of the ~.pper portion o~ -tubular peripheral sidewall 59 is
generally in vertical alignme~t~ or ~lush~ with -the externa~
j sur~ace of sidewall 16 immedia-tely above the o~set portion 17
, and, hence~ virtually no edges o~ the upper terminus of base
~' 50 are present which edges cov.ld provide potential contacting
, points by which forces could be applied to dislodge the base 50j
28 ¦, from bottle 10.
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1 . 11hile ~he above sets :~orth the present :invention ~
,
w:ill o~ course be apparent -~hat modi~ication is possible ~hich
, pursuant to the patent statutes and laws does no~ depart ~rom
-the spiri-t and scope o~ -~he present invention.
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