A blow molding mold in which a holding mechanism is independently provided to a bottom mold and is configured to be capable of gripping a protruding portion provided to a bottom portion of a preform independently of a gate portion, and a rotation mechanism is configured to be capable of rotating the bottom mold, relative to a neck portion of the preform which is in a stationary state held by neck molds, in a state where the protruding portion is gripped by the holding mechanism.

A convertible beverage container includes a first pod portion, a second pod portion, and at least one seal. The first and second pod portions are configured to alternately form (a) a pod configuration in which a base element at a base end of the first pod portion is fixably attached to an open orifice at a drinking end of the second pod portion with the at least one seal disposed between the first and second pod portions to form a seal therebetween and (b) a stemware configuration in which an attachment element at an attachment end of the first pod portion is fixably attached to an attachment region of the second pod portion to form a stemware drinking vessel having a foot, a stem, and a bowl in which the first pod portion forms the foot and stem of the stemware drinking vessel and the second pod portion forms the bowl of the stemware drinking vessel.

This disclosure provides new containers, preforms, methods, and designs for small and light-weight carbonated beverage packaging that provide surprisingly improved carbonation retention and greater shelf life, while still achieving light weight. This disclosure is particularly drawn to small PET containers for carbonated beverages, for example less than or about 400 mL, and methods and designs for their fabrication that attain unexpectedly good carbonation retention and shelf life.

A synthetic resin container includes a mouth portion and body, the body being squeezed to discharge contents. The body has a flattened shape with a width larger than a thickness. An end on one side in an axial direction along a center axis line of the body is connected to the mouth portion, and an end on another side is closed and formed in a curved shape protruding toward the other side in the axial direction. Each widthwise ends of the body is provided with a bent portion extending in parallel with the axial direction. When the body is squeezed in the thickness direction to discharge the contents, the bent portion is configured to be a starting point when one of a front side wall and a rear side wall opposed to each other in the thickness direction of the body is inverted and deformed toward the other.

A container may comprise a tubular body having a rounded sidewall extending between a closed end defining a base portion and an opposite open end surrounded by a rim portion, and one or more sets of grooves defined within the vertical portion of the rounded sidewall. The base portion is configured to support the container in an upright orientation relative to a support surface and wherein the base portion defines a support ring having an at least substantially rounded perimeter. The rounded sidewall comprises a curved base transition region and a vertical portion extending between the perimeter of the base portion and the rim portion along a central axis. Each of the grooves comprises a length and a width, wherein the length is longer than the width. The grooves extend between the base portion and the rim portion along the length.

A glass container is provided that includes a tube, a circular bottom, and a longitudinal axis. A curved glass heel extends from an outer end the bottom to the first end of the tube. The two-dimensional distance h(x,y) between a contact plane and the outer surface. The two-dimensional distance is measured in a direction parallel to the axis. The slope magnitude of the outer surface at the given position x,y is given by

√{square root over ((dh/dx).sup.2+(dh/dy).sup.2)}.

The 75% quantile of values that have been determined for the term

√{square root over ((dh/dx).sup.2+(dh/dy).sup.2)}×d1/h(xy).sub.delta

for all given positions x,y within a circular area having a radius of 0.4×d2/2 and that correspond to the centre is less than 4100 μm/mm. The adjacent positions x,y increase stepwise by 200 μm, and h(x,y).sub.delta=h(x,y).sub.max−h(x,y).sub.min, h(x,y).sub.max is a maximum value for h(x,y) and h(x,y).sub.min is a minimum value for h(x,y) being determined in that circular area.

A glass container is provided that includes a tube, a circular bottom, and a longitudinal axis. A curved glass heel extends from an outer end the bottom to the first end of the tube. The outer surface has a topography defined by a function ĥ(x) that is an azimuthal average of a distance between a contact plane and the outer surface at any given position located on a circle having the centre and the radius |x|. The values ĥ for ĥ(x) are determined for a plurality of circles the radius of which increases stepwise by 500 μm starting with a circle around the centre having a radius of 500 μm. The values ĥ are determined in a range from x=−0.4×d2/2 to x=+0.4×d2/2, d2 having a size such that at least 4 values ĥ are determined and can be fitted with a curvature function

[00001]$\hat{h}\left(x\right)=\frac{-c\times x^2}{1+\sqrt{1-c^2\times x^2}}+h_0.$

A process for preparing a glass container that includes: providing a glass tube with a first portion, a second portion, and a longitudinal axis (L.sub.tube); holding the first portion in a first clamping chuck and the second portion in a second clamping chuck; rotating the glass tube around the longitudinal axis (L.sub.tube); heating, via a heater, the glass tube above a glass transition temperature; separating the first and second portions from one another by pulling apart along the longitudinal axis (L.sub.tube) while the heated glass tube is still rotating by moving the first and the second chucks away from each other; and moving the heater, while moving the first and second chucks away from each other, so that the heater follows a mass that remains at a circular end region of the first and/or second portion.

A container may comprise a tubular body having a rounded sidewall extending between a closed end defining a base portion and an opposite open end surrounded by a rim portion, and one or more sets of grooves defined within the vertical portion of the rounded sidewall. The base portion is configured to support the container in an upright orientation relative to a support surface and wherein the base portion defines a support ring having an at least substantially rounded perimeter. The rounded sidewall comprises a curved base transition region and a vertical portion extending between the perimeter of the base portion and the rim portion along a central axis. Each of the grooves comprises a length and a width, wherein the length is longer than the width. The grooves extend between the base portion and the rim portion along the length.

A bottle is provided. In one aspect, the bottle includes an outer wall. An inner wall is surrounded by the outer wall and is separated from the outer wall by a first distance. A curved base extends from the inner wall. The curved base includes a concave area centrally disposed with respect to the inner wall. The concave area is configured to receive a tablet.