WO1994019242A1

WO1994019242A1 - Reusable container with an inner liner, and a method for making such a container

Info

Publication number: WO1994019242A1
Application number: PCT/NO1994/000041
Authority: WO
Inventors: Karl Magnus Dahlberg
Original assignee: Karl Magnus Dahlberg
Priority date: 1993-02-23
Filing date: 1994-02-18
Publication date: 1994-09-01
Also published as: AU6157794A

Abstract

A closable container device for fluid or mass, adapted for automatic serial production and comprising entirely reusable, recoverable and/or decomposable components. Its main parts are: a container or bottle (1, 71) having a wide neck portion (4, 74), a cap (3, 73, 111) and a fluid tight inner liner (2, 72) made of thermoplastic and preferably heat shrinkable and UV decomposable material. The container (1, 71) itself is not fluid tight but has vent hose (12, 14) and acts more like an outer reusable packing unit around its inner liner. Initially said inner liner (72) preferably is sealed and folded within the cap (73, 111) and is brought into the container in a bottlery during its serial production. The container is designed to be reused a large number of times before destruction and recovering, while the inner liner may be destructed after use only once, or it may be reused after cleaning and inspection. The lower part of the cap is provided with a lock or support ring (76, 117) which may have a protruding collar. The container device is usable both for liquids and mass in powder form and will satisfy the most severe environmental demands.

Description

REUSABLE CONTAINER WITH AN INNER LINER, AND A METHOD FOR MAKING SUCH A CONTAINER.

This invention relates generally to a package or container unit for containing fluid or possibly a mass product and being adapted to the demands of today and the future for resource saving and environmentally lenient distribution and return systems. The package unit is particularly in the form of an inner liner container or bottle having a cap, the liner forming an inner recipient acting as a flexible bag. The unit is price competitive within systems based upon resource saving, recycling and/or reuse and is further well adapted to suit already existing tapping and distribution systems for fluid or products in mass or bulk form. Primarily, the system according to the invention will be competitive by distri¬ bution of liquid milk products, beverages, water and possibly beer, as well as detergents, pharmaceutical products, chemicals, nutrition agents, pesticides, products for agriculture etc.

In the following a brief discussion of packaging and reci¬ pients in general will be given, including price, specifications and environmental aspects by the different package systems of today and possibly even the future. Besides, it is referred to the avail- able literature, primarily to the Swedish book "Miljon och Forpack- ningarna - Fβrpackningsutredningen av 1990-91", ISBN 01-38-10871-2.

A large number of both international and Nordic reports are made to try to clarify the influence upon the environment from packages, mainly packages for beverages. Comparisons after taking into consideration the different environmental factors have shown that refill packages are superior with respect to the environment or surrounding milieu, compared to non-returnable bottles and the like manufactured from the same material.

The differences between the various package enclosing materials regarding the influence upon the environment are, however, not always particularly great or easy to determine categorically. Some times packages only containing one single material may be less harmful to the environment than packages made of compound materials since the latter will be more difficult to sort, classify and recirculate. This conclusion, however, will not be the general rule since compound materials quite often may be of low weight and economical with respect to material use and therefore will be less harmful to the environment during their lifetime.

A survey of the environmental profile of a package system will give the basis for comparing different alternatives with respect to their influence upon and focus on particularly harmful effects on the environment during the life cycle of the package, so as to effectuate improvements. Survey models and reports of this type are also a valuable aid for a factory to chose a package system by also considering environment relations.

However, models of this kind often have strong limitations, i.a. the total amount of disposal may be considered without taking into account local strains or impacts on nature/environment, and the models also mainly concern the outer environment, only to a less degree the inner environment in the form of working milieu around or related to the consumer. Under or connected to the working milieu also the problems facing employment and domicile establish¬ ment must be looked at, and it is to be understood that a well established industry that is manufacturing certain package types and maybe having important market shears will feel it necessary to fight to protect the existing market pattern even if national or global aspects should indicate other solutions. (See for example articles in the daily press on strike threaths to defend the envir- onment tax on aluminium boxes and on brewery worker's strike in October 1991. )

Bycomparing the results or recommendations fromthe dif¬ ferent models and reports, one finds that there are rather large national differences, and as an example it must be mentioned that the well-known Sundstrόm model in this field in fact gives different results for Sweden and Norway. This is probably due to that the energy efficiency is estimated differently in the two countries and that the transport costs are quite different. In European scale is aimed at 70 % returnpackages and approx.30 % disposablepackage units, and in Sweden is planned to follow this line from 1. January 1994. In Norway the conditions are different, partly due to the taxes on non-returnable package units, and recent figures indicate that the return systems embrace as much as approx. 99 % of beer and carbonated beverage bottles of glass and return plastics, leaving only 1 % to be sold in box packages. The Norwegian organi¬ zation RESIRK sets forth that the intention is to establish a deposit and return system even for non-returnable packages of a-uι- minium, steel, plastics and glass.

The following environmental factors are important to take into consideration: Raw material use - energy consumption - air pollution - water pollution - amount of waste - refuse volume - degree of littering/contamination.

An official report made at Chalmers Technical University, Sweden, department for industrial technology (SOU 1991:77, "Livs- sykelanalyser fOr fOrpakningsmaterial") has elucidated the various environmental aspects andenergy consumptions related to different use of package materials. The following four key parameters were assessed: Reuse, recycling of materials, energy retrieval and depositing.

The general conclusion to be gained from the report is that both the energy consumption and the amount of waste will be reduced if the package material can be reused or recycled, and that the energy content of the recycled/reused part of the combust- ible materials should be retrieved by burning. Refilling (filling the package with a fresh consumer product by the return of the package unit) is clearly preferable to recycling, but recycling on its side is to prefer to burning by energy retrieval under the condition that each material kind may be handled separately. This is due to that the energy demand and the waste during the steps of the process of manufacturing the package materials from raw materials in the first place, in most situations are considerably greater than during a corresponding manufacturing from recycled material and omitting these first process steps. The transport contribution to the environment impact in the recycle case is usuallyconsiderably lower, even at long transport spans, compared to the first process steps in the non-returnable case. Different levels of recycling may be actual, but generally the rule is that the environmental benefits are reduced approximately proportional to the decrease of the recycling level.

The discussion above regarding the situation today and the future aspects show clearly that many drawbacks are involved when distributing a product such as milk or similar in a large scale. The ideal would be to find a solution where: l) The manufacture costs for the package primarily are low and at most at the level of today, that the package contribution to the one-off price only adds a minor factor within an effective deposit/return system, and possibly that the package being adapted for energy retrieval with a minimum harm to the environment by decomposition (composting/dissolving/incineration),

2) the additional costs inevitably connected to the handling (tapping/distribution/return/control/preparation/clearing)being kept at levels below what is common today, i.a. by keeping the s weight low and carrying out the control/cleaning reliable but simple at return,

3) the environmental impact being kept considerably lower than for actual known systems, and

4) future national and international demands being met with o good margin.

The present invention in fact offers a solution to several of these problems by being precisely related to a package, enclosure or recipient device that turns out advantageously in relation to points 1) - 4) above. s The form of the container or enclosing bottle is chosen so that storing and piling may be effectuated easily and space saving, and the materials for both the bottle, its lid or cap and inner liner are chosen to facilitate reuse/final destruction with recycling of the material. 0 The container may i.a. be designed to be used again and again some tens to hundreds of times before it is brought to decom¬ position and reproduction, while the inner liner may be destructed after use only once, or even the liner may be used several times after cleaning and inspection. Even the cap is prepared for an 5 effective recycling due to its design.

On the background of these circumstances is suggested a container device comprising an outer container, a cap and an inner liner, said elements being particularly of the kind disclosed in the following patent claims. 0 Methods for manufacturing and preparing the container device according to the invention and in its embodiments are also part of the invention, and the patent claims following the device claims are disclosing the features regarding the manufacturing. Preparation (or clearing) here is to be understood as closing, 5 cutting off, insertion, securing and sealing of the liner, filling the inserted liner with the fluid of interest, closing of the con¬ tainer and transport for the final distribution. The preparation also comprises a possible preceding removal of a liner from a container in return and cleaning and inspection of same. The package or container device according to the invention is now to be described in further details, supported by the accompa¬ nying drawings, wherein Fig. 1A is an elevational, partially cut¬ away view of a container device having its container in the form

5 of a bottle with a relatively wide entry opening, an inserted liner and a corresponding cap, Fig. IB shows the container from above without cap, Fig. 1C shows two embodiments of the neck of the con¬ tainer, Figs. 2 and 3 show two embodiments of the bottom of the container, Fig. 4 shows the container partly inserted in a bag ιo house, Fig. 5 shows the crimping of said bag house onto the neck portion of the container, a first phase, Fig. 6 shows a second phase with further crimping and/or welding after the lower part of the inner liner formed by said house is folded back and brought upwards above the neck portion, Fig. 7 illustrates how the liner is is arranged to tightly adjoin the container wall by withdrawing the air between the liner and the wall, whereafter the filling of an actual fluid may take place, Fig.8 shows a hermetical sealing by means of top welding seams after the filling up, Fig. 9 shows the situation when a used liner is removed from the container,

20 Fig.10 shows a container variant in a somewhat different embodiment and having a threaded cap, Fig. 11 shows the bottom of same con¬ tainer from below, Fig. 12 shows a tapping unit for domestic use, adapted for insertion into the container to make the pouring out easier, Figs. 13A and 13C show a cap and the upper portion of a

25 corresponding container in two different embodiments of the con¬ tainer device of the invention, Figs. 13B and 13D show the cap in enlarged scale and two versions, Figs. 14A, B and C show how a cap is entered onto the neck portion of a bottle, Figs. 14D, E and F show same with a preferred embodiment of the cap, Fig.

30 15 shows schematically a portion of the lower connection area between the side of the cap and a lock and support ring and also indicating the sealing of the edge of a liner arranged around the lower portion of the cap and said support ring, Fig. 16 shows the cap from below and having a bottom sealing foil with diagonally

35 rupture zones, Figs. 17A and B show a fourth embodiment of the cap of the container device, in that Fig. 17A is showing the cap in expanded view, while Fig. 17B is showing same cap assembled, and Fig. 18 shows the outer portion of same cap in the form of a mounting cassette, in perspective view and having its guiding wedge and groove angularly positioned preceding the filling of the container in a filling machine.

Figs. 1 - 11 show a first embodiment of the container device of the invention, and particularly Figs. 1 - 9 show the s way its container in the form of a bottle is supplied with a flexible inner liner to be filled with the product in request and sealed, at last (Fig. 9) is illustrated how said liner is removed after the return of the empty package or bottle.

Figs.13 - 18 show a development of same container device o and its cap in different versions, its flexible inner liner initi¬ ally being folded within the cap and sealed to its lower portion. We will first describe the first embodiment of the con¬ tainer device or packing of the invention, and it is referred to Figs. 1A and IB. This embodiment comprises a container 1 in the s form of a bottle, a bag or liner 2 of flexible material such as plastic foil and during the manufacture made from a blank in the form of a hose 5, and a corresponding lid or cap 3. The container 1 is provided with a preferably quite wide neck portion 4 and a correspondingly relatively wide entry opening 6. The cap 3 can 0 be of the threaded type or the snap-on type, the exterior of the neck portion and the interior of the cap in the shown version therefore being provided with inclined ribs 8 and grooves 10, respectively (shown on the right side of Fig. 1A) or grooves 10' having ribs 9 inbetween, or ribs 8', respectively. The ribs 8, 5 8' and 9 may for example be, as shown, in the form of interrupted outer threads following helical lines. Fig. IB shows from above the container and its neck portion 4 in its rib version, said ribs 8 forming lengths that cover a peripheral angle approximately 45° and interrupted by correspondingly long recesses 11. Being formed o in this way, the neck portion allows a tightly sealing securing of the cap 3 via an inserted double foil of blank material and without the necessity of more than a maximum of 67,5° rotation.

Fig.1C indicates that the neck portion 4 of the container or bottle may be tapered towards the entry opening 6 and in this 5 case the ribs 8 or grooves 10' then would have a helically and possibly intermittent configuration on the outer side of the neck portion. The two variants shown on Fig. 1C indicates a neck angle B at 10 and 25°, resp.

In the shown embodiment the container or bottle has a substantially rectangular cross-section with dimensions for example 71 x 71, but with rounded corners. This form is suitable for space saving by transport and storing. Circular containers or bottles may, however, be suitable due to production reasons and it must be considered what is most important of the following parameters: transport volume and costs, storing conditions or the costs of manufacture. A system having polygonal bottles for certain appli¬ cations may be actual, for example could bottles with circular cross-section be specified for milk, while bottles having rect- angular shape could be specified for juice etc., further a such system could incorporate the use of hexagonal bottles for deter¬ gents, cleaning agents and the like, while octagonal bottles could be used entirely for pharmaceutical products and chemicals. A such "ear marking" will both prohibit against misuse and facilitate a first ( "near-source" ) refuse sorting and different kinds of fetching (salvage campaigns) and make this sort of organization more efficient.

Bottles manufactured according to the standards BS 61606 (Great Britain, 1981) and DIN E 6191 (Germany, August 1987) will particularly be actual after some extent of modification with respect to the following: Holes in the shoulder portion and possibly the bottom, a more rounded form in the neck/shoulder portion, a wider entry opening (preferably corresponding to US standards., retaining grooves in the neck portion and special caps adapted therefore, a collar in the neck portion and possibly a greater choice of configurations (hexagonal cross-section etc.), inclination of the side walls to make the removal of the liner easier, and details on the outside (finger ribs, labelling, support beads). The heights may be 230 - 250 mm. Separately, the container or bottle shape is not particularly specific but an important feature all the same and making it significantly different from conventional containers or bottles, viz. that both the bottom and the neck portion may have [holes 14, 12 to make easier the] insertion and withdrawing of the liner 2 in contrast being fluid tight, and to make the container or bottle itself particularly adapted for recycling in a deposit/return system.

Bottom holes may sometimes be undesired due to the risk of chemicals and the like causing damage if the liner should brake. If there are openings in the neck portion of the bottle, the liner will be brought to contact with the inner wall during the filling of the bottle without trapped air voids between the liner and the wall, and a mutual "sticking together" will be particularly effective if bottle and liner are electrostatically charged with opposite polarity.

If the container 1 is provided with one or a plurality of bottom holes 14, this or these are preferably arranged at or near the middle of the bottom 13, and said bottom is then preferably inclined inwardly so that liquid may be drained. Fig. 1A indicates a bottom angle a at approx. 5°, but bottom angles up to approx. 25° may also be practical. To prevent excessive stresses of the liner 2 in the region above the bottom hole 14, a perforated cover 16 having convex form (like the cap of a field mushroom) may be secured on the inner side of the bottom 13 and above the bottom hole 14. The cover may have holes 17 and/or recesses near the bottom. To prevent that sharp objects may puncture the liner through the holes of the bottle, a protecting disc or similar is inserted under the cover and possibly also on the inside of the shoulder holes, said disc being designed so that it does not prevent the air supply when the liner is withdrawn or air escape during the filling, the disc, however, is not shown in the drawings.

The expression "container" has so far been used for the perforated portion of the container device and designed for distri¬ bution to the consumer when provided with a filled inner liner 2, to indicate that the device with its wide opening 6 may be used for different products, even those not being particularly viscous (fluid and vegetable juice, jam, aspic, yoghurt, cream, oil, soft soap, chemicals and various types of powder, granular or bulk products) in addition to liquid nutrients/beverages (milk, juice, soft drinks, drinking water and possibly beer). The expression "bottle" will in several cases be the most covering, and in the following these two expressions will be used alternatively.

The container or bottle 1 maybemanufactured of a suitable plastic material such as PET, PP, PPLD etc. , but nearly any packing material will be usable as long as it satisfies the demands of importance, particularly because it is not raised any demands for neither tightness or migration since such claims instead have to be met by the inner liner.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the bottom of a container 1 or an embracing bottle from the underside and from above, respectively, according to a plane indicated with III-III on Fig. 1A. In the corners are indicated corner reinforcements 22, these are also connected with edge beads in the embodiment shown on Fig. 2 to

5 make the bottom 13 efficiently supporting and suitable for a steady position on a plane surface. To make the container or bottle easy to handle in a relatively small version, for example up to a content of 1,0 or 1,5 litres, it may have longitudinally finger ribs 18 as indicated on Fig.3. On Fig. 1A and Fig.3 further are indicated ιo outer corner reinforcements in the form of a protection bead 20 which in horizontal and vertical direction is limited. The purpose with a such bead is to prevent that the preferably transparent sides of the container or bottle are scratched by contact with a plane [vertical] wall or another similar bottle, which is the is case during transport and by arranging the bottles side by side on conveyors and in packing boxes.

The protection beads 20 in this way act as "scraping regions" allowing contact and possible scraping and thereby allowing large portions of the side phases to be plane and transparent so

20 that text and legends on the bottle or its inner liner can be read easily.

Fig.4 illustrates a container or bottle 1 partly inserted in a blank being the form of a hose 5 of preferably shrinkable plastic foil, for constituting the inner liner 2 so as to form

25 a fluid tight bag. During this phase of the preparation the hone is brought so far down over the bottle that there is formed a skirt 26, the height d of which from a specified marking 21 on the neck portion of the bottle being predetermined. A corresponding height e above same marking 21 is marked to define a closing cutting-off

30 area 24, thereby establishing the height of the liner. In this area a thermal welding of the plastic material of the liner 2 is carried out in a next step in the preparation process so as to make a bottom seam 25 (shown on Fig.5). This drawing also indicates that the hose 5 after the forming of a fluid tight bottom seam

35 25 is cut off so as to complete the inner liner 2 in the form of a bag. At the same time or in a following operation the portion of the liner 2 being situated outside the neck portion 4 of the container or bottle is exposed to heat or radiation, whereby the plastic material is crimped and will surround the outer surface of the neck portion tightly. In this situation the skirt 26 still is hanging down the prescribed height d on the outside of the bottle.

Fig.6 shows the situation immediately afterwards, after s the exposure of the bottle for a low pressure to suck the upright portion of the liner 2 down into the bottle and to a tight fit to its inner walls, caused by the withdrawal of air from both the bottom holes 14 in the bottom 13 and the vent holes 12 in the neck portion. Thereafter the part of the liner on the outer side of o the neck portion is heat welded, and then the bottle is prepared for filling of the product in request. In the next step of this part of the process an ascending air stream is directed towards the bottle so that the hanging skirt 26 is blowed upwards. This operation is indicated with arrows 27 in Fig.6. Then a new thermal s sealing in the form of a bonding of the plastic material of the liner to the already secured liner or bag in the same area may take place (Fig. 7).

In a production process it may be particularly advantageous to use air for both the insertion of the upwardly directed part o of the liner 2 and lifting of the skirt 26, but naturally even other ways to carry out this may be practical, for example by means of an arm or a gripping mechanism.

The last stage of the process is illustrated in Fig. 8, where the upwardly blown portion of the liner 2 also is sealed 5 with welded top seams 28, whereafter this portion is pushed down into the neck portion of the bottle and the cap 3 mounted. The filled container or bottle 1 thereby is cleared for a final in¬ spection and transport for delivery and distribution to the consumer. o Fig. 9 shows the situation after the return of an empty bottle to the production site while still having its liner 2. In a first process step the liner is removed and mainly brought to destruction/energy retrieval, but without excluding the possibility of reuse of even this part of the container device. Air under 5 pressure is introduced through the bottom holes 14 to press out the liner through the neck portion 4 and also expelling possible liquid drops on the inner wall of the bottle. From the raised position of the liner 2 it is easy to remove.

Fig. 10 shows a variant of the container or bottle 31 according to the invention, having its liner 32 inserted. Th:^"s variant has a screw-on cap 33. For simplicity the bottom is shown flat on its inside and having its central bottom hole 34 relatively wide. On the underside of the bottom is provided a bottom bead 36, and as previously discussed the corners are reinforced, in this case with outer corner studs 42.

The shown types of the container or bottle are typical embodiments and will be suitable for the invention as far as they comprise details in conformity with the description. The employment of already available containers or bottles will be fully possible and also practical in case the modifications to bring them to a suitable condition are not too comprehensive.

Fig. 12 shows a tapping unit 50 (faucet) found practical both during the filling and emptying of liquid from the botcl.e with its inner liner. There may be a tendency for the inner liner to rotate and be pursed together in the region below the neck portion, but by introducing a faucet like the shown unit this is avoided. The tapping unit 50 is effective by comprising a cylinder 52 having apertures 54, below a neck 56 to be fitted in the neck portion of the bottle or container in an appropriate way. A cap 58 on the top of the unit is provided, and a such unit may act as a "domestic part" to be kept by the consumer, one off or several, for aid during pouring from the bottle.

Figs. 13 - 18 show further embodiments of the container device according to the invention, and these embodiments are the preferred ones for the time being. The container or bottle 71 according to these embodiments are different in the neck portion compared to the first embodiment. Just above the bottle 71 is shown (Figs. 13A, 13C and 14D in vertical section) a cap so that the liner 72 of the container device is visible, initially situated within the cap. The cap is shown in two variants of the one shown in Fig. 13A and in greater scale, viz. Figs. 13B and 13D. The cap according to the invention is adapted to enclose the neck portion 74 of a bottle 71 and be held in two retaining positions, namely a first position shown in Figs. 14B and 14E and a second retaining/ locking position shown in Figs. 14C and 14F for the two variations of the cap, respectively. In both variations an upper connection area 80, 80A is provided near the top of the cap or further down, and the variants shown in Figs. 14E and 14F are provided with a wider protruding lock or support ring 76. The cap is kept in place in its first retaining position in that its support ring 76 on its base portion 75 has an inwardly protruding rib to be snapped into an upper retaining groove (Figs. 14C and 14F). The cap 73 further comprises a substantially cylindrical side portion 78 and a top portion 79 connected with the side portion through the already mentioned surrounding upper connection area 80 or 80A with less wall thickness and over its periphery having recesses 80' , 80A' to form a rupture area allowing the top portion or the upper part of the cap to be torn partly away from the remain¬ ing part of the cap 73. The circumstance that the upper connection area 80A in one modification of the cap is arranged further down on the side portion gives the advantage that the "contamination path" around the upper, outer part of the neck portion becomes longer so as to reduce the risk for foreign elements, extraneous matter or unwanted materials to enter through the connection area. Side portion 78 and base portion 75 are connected to each other in a corresponding way via a lower connection area 81 which also forms a weakened or rupture zone around the periphery in the same way as the upper connection area in the two variants of the cap. To be able to tear off the top portion 79 from the side portion 78 and the latter from the support ring 76 there is on one side of the cap provided a tongue 82 extending upwards above the cap and having a finger hole 82A making it easy to get hold of and maintain firmly, also by children and persons with limited hand strength, for example by means of a fork or the like. The finger hole 82A has an additional function, namely for securing of the tongue 82 after the tearing off, because a button 82C may be provided on one side of the cap, said button matching the finger hole. Side portion 78 is cut through by a slot 97 along the tongue 82 nearly down to the lower connection area 81 so as to form a short and thin-walled rupture zone in the lowermost part of the side portion. The upper connection area 80 or 80A is extending over the main part of the cap periphery, saving only a shorter portion 98, 98A so that the top portion 79 or the upper part of the cap normally will not completely detach from the side portion. The lower connection area 81 is on the contrary made fully encirc¬ ling to allow the support ring 71 to be retained in the lower retaining groove 77' at the consumer site and for return to the distributor. The width of the portion 98 may for example correspond to 30 or 60° along the periphery. In this way cap and side portion normallywill be kept together and may be delivered as return goods against a possible additional deposit return if both the bottle s and its cap is within a combined deposit system.

On the inside of the side portion 88 and nearer the top is provided an upper side rib 83 adapted to fit into the upper retaining groove 77.

The cap 73 is sealed with a first upper sealing foil 84 o on top of the top portion 79 and with a corresponding first lower sealing foil 85 on the underside of the base portion 75. The first upper sealing foil 84 is particularly important to prevent foreign members or contaminating materials to penetrate through the central filling opening 86 of the top portion in the period between the s time of cap manufacturing and its mounting on the bottle. This period thereby is permitted to last arbitrarily long, thereby for example allowing caps to be produced in large series and stored without particularly severe hygienic environmental requirements. To facilitate a hermetical sealing of the cap by the first upper o sealing foil 84, the upper connection area also has to be fluid tight or the foil may extend over this area under the condition that there are provided openings in said area for an easier tearing- off.

The container device according to the invention is, cap 5 included, adapted for recycling and large scale serial manufact¬ uring. The recycling includes preferably that the container or bottle 71 - not directly contacting the product contained for its distribution to the consumers - is subject to a deposit system for stimulating the consumers to a return. Besides, the cap may 0 separately be subject to a deposit system to prevent that the cap material contributes to littering and for saving resources by allowing destruction by melting and reuse. The return bottle machines of today are well adapted to distinguish between different bottle types, included bottles with or without a recognizable cap, 5 and in this way a larger deposit amount may be returned by the return of a complete bottle, compared to returning the bottle without its cap. The bottle may be reused several times as long as certain criteria are satisfied. Usually a new label will be added every time the bottle is distributed from the bottlery. After a suitable number of cycles (trips) the bottle material may be reused, for example by grinding and melting, thereafter to be remoulded. Principally different plasticmaterials as well as metals and other materials may be actual for the manufacture of the bottle, since it is not necessary with particular demands for neither mig¬ ration, material purity or tightness, because these properties are taken care of by the inner liner.

The container or bottle 71 is brought forward in vertical position on a conveyor and to a position under a cap 73 for example brought to correct position on a different conveyor. The bottle and the cap are then brought to correct relative position to each other so that their longitudinally central axis coincide, and then the bottle and the cap are approached, either by lowering the cap or lifting the bottle. The first touch will take place between the lower sealing foil 85 and the upper end phase 87 of the neck portion 74. The sealing will be ruptured by a further lowering of the cap on to the bottle (or vice versa). The rupture may dir¬ ectly take place due to the approaching or there may be arranged separate means to rupture and remove the foil. Thereafter the cap is entered on to the neck portion to a position where the support ring 76 snaps into the upper retaining groove 77. The bottle with its cap is then ready for filling, which takes place by means of a filler device being lowered from the upper side of the cap and through the filling opening 86 of the top portion 79. The upper sealing foil 84 is removed or ruptures in a way so that no detach¬ able elements of the foil are formed, thereby giving no risk of such elements to enter the inner liner 72 together with the actual fluid or products with which the bottle is filled. During the filling the liner 72 is folded out and adjoining the bottom and inner wall of the bottle. Alternatively the liner may be sucked into the bottle before the filling by means of air or in other ways, for example by a preceding electrostatic charging of both the liner and the bottle at opposite polarity so that the liner will adhere strongly to the bottle. When the bottle is filled the filler device is removed and the cap is further pressed down on to the bottle neck portion so that support ring 76 or a different part of the base portion 75 is pressed on to a support face 88 on a protruding collar 89 on the neck portion. In the variant having a support ring 76 of the wide type a correspondingly wide mutual support will be estab¬ lished between the ring and the support face 88. The collar 89 is also practical due to other reasons, i.a. transport, to keep the bottle stable in its vertical position by means of guiding rails etc. In the situation when the base portion or its support ring is supported by the face 88 during the lowering of the cap 73, the upper side rib 83 is not yet entering the corresponding upper retaining groove 77 since the distance g' between the upper side rib 83 and the support ring 76 preferably is slightly greater than the corresponding distance g between the upper and the lower retaining groove 77, 77' , respectively. The upper part of the side portion 78 therefore must be pressed further downwards which leads to a deformation of the upper part of the base portion 75 in the region of the lower connection area 81, which establishes a better locking of the support ring 76 in the lower retaining groove 77' .

In the last sequence of the mounting the top portion 79 is pressed further down until a top rib 90 on its lower part is fit into a corresponding top groove 91 in the upper part of the opening 93 of the neck portion 74. During this pressing down of the top portion the upper connection area will be slightly deformed since the distance i^_ between the middle of the top rib 90 and the upper side rib 83 initially is slightly greater than the cor¬ responding distance i between the middle of the upper retaining groove 77 and the top groove 91. In this way is secured that the lower profile part 92 of the top portion is tightly press-fitting against the corresponding profiled upper seat 94 in the top of the opening 93. Thereafter the cap is again sealed by a second upper sealing foil 95 of preferably a stronger quality, and possibly also an additional sealing/securing of the cap 73, for example to cater for the higher pressure of carbonated beverages. An alter¬ native solution for bottles and caps designed for liquids under pressure is indicated in Fig. 17B wherein the cap is provided with a threaded plug 99 having a separate annular seal 100. The following sequence includes the feeding out from the conveyor and the pro- vision of labels, date impressions etc., and the number of full cycles are updated according to conventional distribution techno¬ logy.

At the consumer side the consumption of the filled product may include the breakthrough of the second upper sealing foil 95, for example for introducing a beverage straw, or the top portion is lifted after the tearing off by means of the tongue 82. The design of neck portion and cap is such that it is easy to pour out the content without spilling and also facilitating drinking directly from the bottle. All the cap parts will normally be kept on the bottle for return to recycling or controlled destruction (melting for reuse or combustion with energy return). This also holds for the inner liner although it has very low mass and weight and therefore does not represent any great energy or material loss in the recycling process. Even the cap is included in a such re¬ cycling scheme.

The connection between the edge of the liner 72 and the base portion 75 may be made differently, for example by leading the edge of the liner around the support ring for a securing to the upper side of said ring and/or on the exterior of the side portion 78. In a modification having a rupturable lower connection area 81 the outer folded edge of the liner 72 may be welded to the exposed parts of the liner, visible from the inside of the openings. Fig. 15 shows a portion of the lower connection area 81 in a such modification of the cap. The area has relatively narrow connection members 101 with intermittent recesses 102 with a curved edge 103. A welding seam 104 is indicated between the two layers of the liner 72, in the lowest portion of the recesses 102. The lower sealing foil 85 is shown schematically in Fig.

16, with its rupture zones 105 arranged as diagonal lines so that the rupture will follow these. Parts of the foil therefore will not have tendency to be torn off completely.

Fig. 17 (A and B) illustrates a further modification of the cap 111, comprising an outer protecting part named mounting cassette 112 and an inner part in the form of an inner cap 113. The mounting cassette is forming a cylindrical main body to be sealed at both ends with a third upper sealing foil 134 and a second lower sealing foil 115, respectively. Fig.17A shows in longitudinal section the cap 111 in a variant having its support ring 117 with approximately circular cross section and the different elements shown separated, while 17B illustrates the cap in a different version having its support ring wider and with an oblong cross- section. Fig. 17B shows the cap assembled and sealed in both ends. To keep the inner cap 113 on its place in the mounting cassette 112 the latter has in the shown embodiment a thicker wall portion at its lower end and provided with an encircling groove 116. The support ring 117 of the inner cap 113 is, as indicated on Figs. 17A and B a shorter or longer protruding external bead 118 to fit into the groove 116 in its shallow or deeper version, respectively. Due to the upper sealing foil 114 sealing the mounting cassette 112 hermetically at the upper side, there is no longer need for any first upper sealing foil such as the foil 84 shown in Fig.14A and thereafter to be replaced by a second corresponding foil 95 (Fig. 14C).

Fig. 18 illustrates in a perspective view the mounting cassette separately, said cassettepractically beingequipped with a guiding wedge 119 on its one side and an opposite guiding groove 120 for correct angular position during mounting. Alternatively a rib and/or a groove may be arranged additionally on the inside to keep the inner cap in a certain position within the cassette. If in addition the bottle or container on which the cap shall be mounted has some kind of a guiding element it will be possible to secure that both the mounting cassette and the inner cap is mounted onto the bottle in an unambiguous way, which may be advan¬ tageous due to different reasons, for example regarding the sealing of the cap, correspondence between legends on the cap and t e bottle, bottles with non-circular neck portion will be allowed, etc.

During the mounting process is assumed that the mounting cassette after the filling of the bottle is removed, i.e. returned to the process for introduction of a new inner cap. The upper sealing foil 114 of the mounting cassette may be kept intact by removing the cassette before the filling, or the filling may be done by puncturing of the upper foil in the same way as for the previously described embodiments. The cassette thereafter will be removed after the filling is completed and the filler device withdrawn. The embodiments of the cap having a protruding support ring 76, 117 are advantageous due to a better adaptability for automatic mass production and versatility together with different bottle types.

The cap according to the invention has in a particular embodiment on its lower part a base portion formed like a collar to facilitate and secure a reliable connection to the edge of the inner liner, this connection preferably also may be automatically in the actual production machines. Support and guiding of bottles s having no inherent protruding collar thereby may take place with the aid of the collar in the base portion of the cap.

The securing of the liner to the support ring 76, 117 (at 118) may be effectuated by conventional adhesive technique, for example by using two-component glue. In that case, the first o glue component is provided on a ring innermost and outermost on the upwardly directing surface of the support ring, possibly also over the complete surface. The provision of glue over two rings will particularly be practical when the support ring has holes or recesses in the middle portion. s For still better support between the base portion of the cap and the neck portion, the support ring may be extended down¬ wardly in the way illustrated in Fig. 13B. Thereby a greater stability is obtained against distortions at full charge, i.e. at fully filled bottle, since a bottle for example may contain 0 1,5 litres of liquid. In that case the plastic foil constituting the inner liner is guided across the extension of the support ring, around it on the outer side and thereafter around the horizontally protruding part of the ring in the same way as described earlier.

It is assumed that return bottle machines of the future 5 will have to take into consideration that several types of return bottles are so lightweight that they will not allways stand verti¬ cally during the transport through the machine, and therefore it would be practical with a guiding mechanism to bring the bottle forward under support of the protruding collar on the neck portion o or on the support ring of the cap.

The cap according to the invention and having a support ring therefore gives opportunity to a better quiding of bottles having no such supporting collar in the neck portion, a stable handling of bottles with or without supporting collar due to that 5 the support ring of the cap in addition is provided with a down¬ wardly extending supporting part, and excellent utilization of an existing bottle park without the necessity to change the form of the bottles, since bottle with accompanying cap may directly suit existing and future return deposit systems.

Claims

C l a i m s

1. A closable container device for fluid or mass, adapted s for automatic serial production and comprising the following reusable, recoverable and/or destructible components: a container (1) of thermoplastics, preferably transparent material, in its one end having a neck portion (4) with a wide opening (6) and having engaging means such as ribs (8) and/or o grooves (10), and in its other end having a bottom (13), a cap (3) adapted to said neck portion (4) and its opening (6), and a fluid tight inner liner (2) of thermoplastic and preferably heat shrinkable and UV decomposable material, characterized in that said container (1) having vent holes (12) near its open neck portion s (4) and possibly one or several holes (14, 17) in its bottom (13), the neck portion (4) of said container being tapered outwardly towards the opening (6) so as to form an exterior neck angle b at between approx. 10 and 25°, said engaging elements (8, 10' ) of the neck portion and the corresponding engaging elements (8' , 10) 0 on the adapted cap (3) being regularly interrupted over their circumference so as to form recesses (11) to enable a secure fixing and sealing of the cap on the neck portion after a rotation of less than 67,5°, with the aid of two intermediate layers of the thermoplastic material of said inner liner (2), said bottom (13) 5 being inclined inwardly towards the middle and forming a bottom angle a at between 2 and 25°, and said container externally having protection beads (20) and/or finger ribs (18).

2. A closable container device for fluid or mass, adapted for automatic serial production and comprising the following o reusable, recoverable and/or destructible components: a container (71) of thermoplastic, preferably transparent material, in its one end having a neck portion (74) with a wide opening (76) and having engaging means such as recesses or grooves (77, 77', 91), and in its other end having a bottom, and a cap 5 (73) adapted to said neck portion (74) and its opening (76), characterized in that said container (71) having vent holes near its open neck portion and possibly one or several holes in its bottom, the neck portion (74) of said container forming a cylind¬ rical portion surrounding the opening (93), said engaging elements of said neck portion being in the form of an upper, inner top groove (91) for embracing a corresponding top rib (90) in said cap (73) and at least two external retaining grooves (77, 77') of which an upper retaining groove (77) having an axial distance g from a corresponding lower retaining groove (77' ), while the axial distance between the upper retaining groove (77) and the inner top groove (91) having a predetermined value i, the cap (73) being in the form of a sealed unit having an upper (84) and a lower sealing foil (85) holding a folded inner liner (72) confined within a side portion (78) and under a top portion (79), these parts of said cap being connected to each other via an upper connection area (80, 80A), said cap further having a lower support ring (76) connected to the side portion (78) via a lower connection area (81), and said side portion (78) of said cap having at least one internal side rib (83) with a distance g_ in axial direction to said support ring (76), and g' ≥ g, while the distance i_|_ in che axial direction from said side rib (83) to said top rib (90) in said cap satisfying the corresponding: i'≥ i.

3. A closable container device for fluid or mass, adapted for automatic serial production and comprising the following reusable, recoverable and/or destructible components: a container (71) of thermoplastic, preferably transparent material, in its one end having a neck portion (74) with a wide opening (76) and having engaging means such as recesses or grooves (77, 77', 91), and in its other end having a bottom, and a cap

(111) adapted to said neck portion (74) and its opening (76), characterized in that said container (71) having vent holes near its open neck portion and possibly one or several holes in i-.s bottom, the neck portion (74) of said container forming a cylind- rical portion surrounding the opening (93), said engaging elements of said neck portion being in the form of an upper, inner top groove (91) for embracing a corresponding top rib (90) in said cap (73) and at least two exterior retaining grooves (77, 77' ) of which an upper retaining groove (77) having an axial distance g from a corresponding lower retaining groove (77' ), while the axial distance between the upper retaining groove (77) and the inner top groove (91) having a predetermined value 1, said cap (111) comprising an outer sealed unit in the form of a mounting cassette

(112) having an upper (114) and a lower sealing foil (115) and en inner unit forming an inner cap (113), said inner cap holding a folded inner liner (72) confined within a side portion (78) and under a top portion (79), these parts of said inner cap being connected to each other via an upper connection area (80, 80A), s said inner cap (113) further having a lower support ring (117) connected to the side portion (78) via a lower connection area (81), and said side portion (78) of said inner cap having at least one internal side rib (83) with a distance g_L in axial direction to said support ring (76), and g' ≥ g, while the distance i___ in o the axial direction from said side rib (83) to said top rib (90) in said inner cap satisfying the corresponding: i'≥ i.

4. A container device according to one of the preceding claims 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that said cap having its support ring in the form of an outwardly protruding support ring (76, 117, 118) s for guiding and handling, and for the securing of the inner liner.

5. A container device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upper connection area (80) of said cap (73, 111) is forming a rupture zone covering approximately 330° of the circumference of said cap, while the lower connection 0 area (81) of said cap is forming a fully circumferential rupture zone, the side portion (78) of said cap on one side having a substantially through-cut slot (97) along a tongue (82) extending vertically above the top portion (79) of said cap for facilitating the detachment of said side portion (78) from said support ring 5 (76) by gripping the tongue in radial direction, and said top portion (79) from said side portion with the except of a portion (98) preventing the disposal of said side portion (78).

6. A container device according to claim 5, characterized in that said tongue (82) comprises a finger hole (82A) both adapted o to suit a button (82C) on said side portion (78) to close the latter around a neck portion (74) of a bottle, and adapted for being held by a pointed or bent tool like a fork to facilitate the opening of the cap for children and persons with limited holding ability.

7. A container device according to one of the preceding claims 5 2 - 6, characterized in that the liner (72) of said cap (73) or inner cap (113) is folded around the support ring (79, 117) from the outside and inwardly across the lower connection area (81) for connection with the latter both from the inside and the outside and additionally mutual bonding in recesses (102) by means of welding seams (104) in said lower connection area (81).

8. A container device according to one of the preceding claims 3 - 7, characterized in that the mounting cassette (112) of said innercap (111) comprises guidemembers (119, 120) for its mounting s on a container (71) in a predetermined angular position in relation to said container, the latter also having guide members for a predetermined angular position before and during the mounting of said inner cap.

9. A method for automatic serial production of a closable o container device for fluid or mass, adapted for automatic serial productionand comprising the following reusable, recoverable and/or destructible components: a container (1) of thermoplastic, preferablytransparent material, in its one end having a neck portion (4) with a wide s opening (6) and having engaging means such as ribs (8) and/or grooves (10), and in its other end having a bottom (13), a cap (3) adapted to said neck portion (4) and its opening (6), and a tubular and easily formable blank in the form of a hose (5) of fluid tight foil, particularly of heat shrinkable plastic material 0 to be decomposed when exposed to ultraviolet light, in order to make an inner liner (2) with the shape of a bag, characterized in: placing the container (1) in vertical position on a support and transporting said container to a position under a tubular blank 5 in the form of a hose (5) with a downwardly directed opening, vertical and relative displacement between said hose (5) and said container (1) towards each other until said hose surrounds the upper portion of the container and the open end of the hose is extending a height d below a marking (21) on the neck portion o (4) of said container, said end having the height d delimiting a skirt (26), establishing by marking on the hose (5) of a cutting-off and closing area (24) to determine the height of the liner (2) made by the hose (5) at a distance e above the marking (21), 5 squeezing together and thermal treatment of said area

(24) so as to form a traverse bottom seam (25) closing the hose (5) hermetically, cutting-off said hose in the area (24) above the seam (25) to make a tight bottom of said liner (2), thermal treatment of the portion of said hose (5) in the given position being situated outside the neck portion (4) of said container (1) so as to crimp the hose and contract the blank mater¬ ial in said area tightly adhering to the neck portion and its engaging members (8, 10) and such that said liner (2) adapts its s ultimate form to the internal volume of said container, vertical ascending feeding of said skirt (26) of said hose (5) along and above said neck portion (4) by means of mech¬ anical manipulating or an ascending air stream along the outer walls of said container, thereby forming two layers of said blank o outside the neck portion, thermal treatment of said two layers in the region outside the neck portion (4) so that the outer layer becomes crimped to a tight adherence against the inner layer and possibly even plastics bonding to it, s establishing of an underpressure outside said container

(1) to enable that the portion of said liner (2) protruding above the opening (6) is being drawn through said opening, outwardly against the inner surfaces of said container to finally adhere closely to them during withdrawal of air through vent holes (12, o 14) in the container, filling of the actual fluid or mass to be contained in the container and its liner, thermal treatment of the still open end of said liner

(2), previously forming the skirt (26) during air withdrawal so 5 as to form one or several top seams (28) and so as to hermetically close said liner (2) with its content and only a minimum of trapped air, feeding of the closed protruding end of the liner (2) through the opening of said container (1) and into its neck portion ° (4), mounting of said cap (3), and further transport of the filled and cap sealed container device for final treatment and possibly packing and distribution.

10. A method for automatical serial production of a closable 5 container device for fluid or mass and comprising the following reusable, recoverable and/or destructible components: a container (71) of thermoplastic, preferably transparent material, in its one end having a neck portion (74) with a wide opening (76) and having engaging means such as recesses and/or grooves (77, 77', 91), and in its other end having a bottom, ar.d a cap (73) adapted to said neck portion (74) and its opening (76), characterized in: placing of said (71) in vertical position on a support and transport to a position under a cap (73) having a top portion (79) on top and bottom of which is provided an upper (84) and a lower sealing foil (85), respectively, vertical relative displacement between said cap (73) and said container (71) towards each other until the lower sealing foil (85) centrally abuts an upper end surface (87) of said neck portion (74), lowering of the cap and rupture of the lower sealing foil (85) due to the pressure from the upper end surface against ύhe foil or by means of separate foil rupturing means until said cap enters a first retainer position in engagement between a support ring (76) and an upper retaining groove (77) on the neck portion (74), lowering of a filler device from above said cap to abutment against the upper sealing foil (84) on the upper surface of its top portion (79), rupture of the upper sealing foil and further lowering of the filler device, filling of the actual fluid or the actual mass to be contained in the container device, from said filler device and into a folded liner (72) in the cap, lowering of said cap and the upper portion of the at that time filled liner to a second retaining position wherein said support ring is engaged in a lower retaining groove (77' ) simultan¬ eously with a lower surface of said cap being in abutment against an upper surface (88) on a protruding collar (89) circumferentially around the lower part of the neck portion (74), together with a slight compression of said cap so that the distance g' between an upper, inner side rib (83) in said cap and its support ring (76) equals the distance g between the external grooves (77, 77' ), respectively on said neck portion (74), whereby the upper side rib of said cap snaps into the upper retaining groove (77), further compression of said cap so that its top portion (79) is lowered in relation to its side portion (78) until an external top rib (90) snaps into a corresponding internal top groove (91) in the upper part of the container opening (93), sealing of the cap with a second upper sealing foil (95), possibly further sealing/securing of the cap onto the container, and s transport of the filled and sealed container device for final treatment and possibly packing and distribution.

11. A method for automatic serial production of a closable container device for fluid or mass and comprising the following reusable, recoverable and/or destructible components: o a container of thermoplastic, preferably transparent material, in its one end having a neck portion with a wide opening and having engaging means such as recesses and/or grooves, and in its other end having a bottom, and a cap (111) adapted to said neck portion and its opening, characterized in: s placing of the container in vertical position on a support and transporting it to a position under a cap (111), vertical relative displacement between said cap and said container towards each other, positioning of said cap in relation to the central vertical o axis of said container, rotating said cap in relation to said container around their common central axis with the aid of guide means (119, 120) for positioning, lowering of said cap and rupture of a lower sealing foil 5 (115) as a result of the pressure from the upper end surface on the neck portion against the foil or by means of separate foil rupture means, until an inner part of said cap in the form of an inner cap (113) enters a first holding position having engagement between a support ring (117) and an upper retaining groove on the o neck portion, removing an outer part of said cap, said outer part being in the form of a mounting cassette (112) having an upper sealing foil (114), lowering of a filler device through the opening in said 5 inner cap (113), filling of the actual fluid or the actual mass to be con¬ tained in the container device, from said filler device and into a folded liner (72) in the cap, lowering of said cap and the upper portion of the at that time filled liner to a second retaining position wherein said support ring is engaged in a lower retaining groove (77' ) simul¬ taneously with a lower surface of said cap being in abutment against an upper surface (88) on a protruding collar (89) circumferentially around the lower part of the neck portion (74), together with a slight compression of said cap so that the distance g' between an upper, inner side rib (83) in said cap and its support ring (76) equals the distance g between the external grooves (77, 77' ), respectively on said neck portion (74), whereby the upper side rib of said cap snaps into the upper retaining groove (77), further compression of said cap so that its top portion (79) is lowered in relation to its side portion (78) until an external top rib (90) snaps into a corresponding internal top groove (91) in the upper part of the container opening (93), sealing of the cap with a second upper sealing foil (95 i, possibly further sealing/securing of the cap onto the container, and transport of the filled and sealed container device for final treatment and possibly packing and distribution.