ASEPTIC FILLING BOTTLE

Abstract

An aseptic filling bottle that can suppress buckling of its bottom portion even at the time of refrigerated storage. A bottom portion of the aseptic filling bottle includes a grounding portion to be placed in contact with a surface on which the bottle is put, a central portion that projects to an inner side of the bottle as its extends radially inwards from the grounding portion, a dome portion which projects to more inner side of the bottle than the central portion, and a receded groove portion that extends radially from the dome portion. A bottom inner side projection height of the central portion at a dome portion side circumferential edge thereof is set greater than a half of a height from the grounding portion to a border between the body portion and the bottom portion. The receded groove portion, at a position corresponding to the radial center position of the grounding portion, has a depth ranging from 5.0 mm to 10.0 mm.

Claims

1. An aseptic filling bottle including a spout portion, a shoulder portion, a body portion and a bottom portion; wherein the bottom portion includes a grounding portion to be placed in contact with a surface on which the bottle is put, a central portion that projects to an inner side of the bottle as its extends radially inwards from the grounding portion, a dome portion which projects to more inner side of the bottle than the central portion, and a receded groove portion that extends radially from the dome portion; wherein a bottom inner side projection height of the central portion at a dome portion side circumferential edge thereof is set greater than a half of a height from the grounding portion to a border between the body portion and the bottom portion; and wherein the receded groove portion, at a position corresponding to the radial center position of the grounding portion, has a depth ranging from 5.0 mm to 10.0 mm.

2. The aseptic filling bottle of claim 1, wherein the central portion is formed arcuate.

3. The aseptic filling bottle of claim 1, wherein the receded groove portion extends from the dome portion to a circumferential edge on more radial outer side than the grounding portion.

4. The aseptic filling bottle of claim 1, wherein in the body portion, there is formed at least one receded rib which extends around a circumferential face of the body portion.

5. The aseptic filling bottle of claim 2, wherein the receded groove portion extends from the dome portion to a circumferential edge on more radial outer side than the grounding portion.

6. The aseptic filling bottle of claim 2, wherein in the body portion, there is formed at least one receded rib which extends around a circumferential face of the body portion.

7. The aseptic filling bottle of claim 3, wherein in the body portion, there is formed at least one receded rib which extends around a circumferential face of the body portion.

8. The aseptic filling bottle of claim 5, wherein in the body portion, there is formed at least one receded rib which extends around a circumferential face of the body portion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] FIG. 1 is a front view of an aseptic filling bottle,

[0022] FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a bottom portion of the aseptic filling bottle,

[0023] FIG. 3 shows a III-III section in FIG. 2, and

[0024] FIG. 4 shows a IV-IV section in FIG. 2.

MODES OF EMBODYING THE INVENTION

[0025] Embodiments of an aseptic filling bottle relating to the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. An aseptic filling bottle 1 relating to this embodiment includes a spout (mouth) portion 2, a shoulder portion 4, a body portion 5 and a bottom portion 6. The bottom portion 6 includes a grounding portion 10 that comes into contact with a surface on which the bottle is put, a central portion 12 that progressively projects to the inner side of the bottle main body as it extends from the grounding portion 10 to the center of the bottom portion 6, a dome portion 13 that projects more to the bottle inner side than the central portion 12, and a receded groove portion 14 that extends radially from the dome portion 13. The central portion 12 is configured such that a bottle inner side projection height D1 of this central portion 12 at a dome portion side circumferential edge 12a thereof is set greater than a half D2 of a height measured from the grounding portion 10 to the border between the body portion 5 and the bottom portion 6. Moreover, the receded groove portion 14, at a position corresponding to the radial center position of the grounding portion 10, has a depth D3 ranging from 5.0 mm to 10.0 mm. With these arrangements, buckling of the bottom portion at the time of refrigerated storage can be effectively suppressed. Next, the aseptic filling bottle relating to this embodiment will be explained in details.

[0026] The aseptic filling bottle 1 relating to this embodiment (to be referred to simply as bottle 1 hereinafter), as shown in FIG. 1, includes the spout portion 2 as a spout or a mouse for dispensing liquid and a bottle main body portion 3 to be filled with the liquid. The bottle main body portion 3 includes the shoulder portion 4, the body portion 5 and the bottom portion 6. The shoulder portion 4 is a portion whose diameter increases progressively toward a bottom face direction continuous with the spout portion 2 and has a shape formed of combination of polygonal panels of various shapes. The body portion 5 is a cylindrical portion continuous with the shoulder portion 4. The bottom portion 6 is a portion in the bottle main body portion 3, where the circumferential face of the bottle main body portion 3 has its diameter progressively decreasing toward the bottom face. Namely, in the instant embodiment, the position of the border between the body portion 5 and the bottom portion 6 is a position in the height direction where the diameter of the bottle main body portion 3 begins to decrease toward the bottom face.

[0027] Here, the bottle 1 relating to the instant embodiment is a bottle for use in an aseptic (germfree) filling method for filling liquid inside a bottle under an aseptic condition. The aseptic filling method allows avoiding exposure of a plastic bottle to a high temperature. So, the heat resistance performance of the bottle 1 can be low and this bottle is formed as a thin and lightweight bottle. The bottle 1 can be molded integrally, e.g. by the biaxial stretch blow molding method with using a thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, etc. as a principal material.

[0028] The bottle 1 relating to this embodiment, as will be described below, is configured to withstand filled contents expansion when the filled (charged) liquid is frozen. Thus, as contents to be filled in the bottle 1, e.g. non-carbonated beverage such as mineral water, tea, soft drink, or juice, which may be stored under a refrigerated state are particularly preferred. However, the bottle may be used suitably also with a carbonated drink (beverage) or a food article such as sauce.

[0029] The body portion 5 is of a straight body type and in this body portion 5, there are formed a plurality of receded ribs 7 that extend around its circumferential face. Each receded rib 7 has a shape receded or concave to the inner side in the radial direction (the direction toward a center axis X of the bottle 1 and along its horizontal direction) and the width and the depth of each receded rib 7 are formed approximately constant over the entire circumference. These receded ribs 7 function not only as reinforcing ribs for reinforcing the lateral face strength of the bottle 1, but also as portions extendible in the vertical upper direction of the bottle 1 for absorbing possible volumetric expansion of the contents liquid at the time of refrigerated storage.

[0030] Incidentally, as such receded ribs 7, it will suffice to provide at least one at any position of the body portion 5. Preferably, two or more such ribs 7 will be formed in the body portion 5. More preferably, at least one will be formed at a lower part of the body portion and a plurality will be formed at an upper part of the body portion. Incidentally, if at least one is formed at the body portion lower part and the body portion upper part respectively, this will allow smooth and easy extension in the vertical upper direction of the bottle 1 for absorbing the volumetric expansion of the contents liquid at the time of refrigerated storage. So, the bottle 1 can stand straight on its own without tilting and also no deformation or break of the bottle will occur, either. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, advantageously, the receded rib 7 may be formed to be receded/concave to the radially inner side and along the entire circumference.

[0031] As shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the bottom portion 6 has an annular grounding portion 10 to be placed on (in contact with) a surface on which the bottle is put such as a desk surface and includes also a circumferential edge portion 11 which is a portion on the radially outer side of the grounding portion 10, a central portion 12 that is a radially inner side portion relative to the grounding portion 10 and a dome portion 13 that is provided at the central portion 12 and that projects to more bottle inner side than the central portion 12. The central portion 12 has such a shape that projects to the inner side (the upper side in FIG. 1) of the bottle 1 as it extends to radially inner side from the grounding portion 10 and is formed arcuate from the grounding portion 10 to the dome portion 13. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the central portion 12 is configured such that the bottle inner side projection height D1 of this central portion 12 at the dome portion side circumferential edge 12a thereof is set greater than the half D2 of the height measured from the grounding portion 10 to the border 6a between the body portion 5 and the bottom portion 6. Moreover, the dome portion 13 is provided in a trapezoidal shape as seen in its vertical section.

[0032] In the bottom portion 6, there are formed a plurality (eight in this embodiment) of the receded groove portions 14 extending from the dome portion 13 to the circumferential edge portion 11 equidistantly in a radial pattern. With these receded groove portions 14, the strength of the bottom portion 6 is increased. With the provision of these receded groove portions 14, the circumferential edge portion 11 and the central portion 12 are divided into a plurality (eight in the present embodiment) in the circumferential direction (the direction around the center axis X of the bottle 1). As shown in FIG. 4, an end portion 14a of each receded groove portion 14 on the side of the circumferential edge portion 11 extends to the border 6a between the body portion 5 and the bottom portion 6. Further, preferably, the receded groove portion 14 is configured such that the receded groove portion 14, at a position corresponding to the radial center position of the grounding portion 10, has the depth D3 ranging from 5.0 mm to 10.0 mm (6.6 mm in this embodiment). If it exceeds 10.0 mm, the depth will be excessive to invite impairment of the outer appearance of the bottle 1 or to invite need for design change of some other portion.

[0033] As described above, in the bottle 1, the arrangement of not only forming the dome portion 13 at the center of the bottom portion 6, but also configuring the entire central portion 12 from the dome portion 13 to the grounding portion 10 to project to the bottle inner side as extending to the radially inner side, the arrangement of setting the projection height at the dome portion side circumferential edge 13a greater than the half of the height of the bottom portion 6, and the arrangement of forming arcuate from the grounding portion 10 to the dome portion side circumferential edge 13a together serve to effectively increase the strength of the bottom portion 6. Moreover, the strength of the bottom portion 6 is further increased by the receded groove portions 14 that extend from the dome portion 13 to the circumferential edge portion 11. With this, there is ensured strength sufficient to effectively suppress buckling of the bottom portion 6 due to volumetric expansion of the contents at time of refrigerated storage.

[0034] Table 1 below shows comparison of three-times tests of a conventional bottle and the bottle 1 relating to the present embodiment. As shown, with the conventional bottle, unlike the bottle 1 relating to the present embodiment, the depth of the portion corresponding to the depth D3 shown in FIG. 3 (the depth at the position of the receded groove portion 14 corresponding to the radial center of the grounding portion 10) is below 5 mm.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Embodiment Conventional filling amount (ml) 650 490 N = 1 Pass Pass N = 2 Pass Failure N = 3 Pass Failure Pass: The bottle stands stably after refrigeration. Failure: The bottle does not stand stably after refrigeration.

[0035] As can be seen from Table 1, the bottle 1 relating to the present embodiment is more stable in the case of the large-volume bottle having a filling amount of 650 ml, this means the suppression of buckling of the bottom portion 6. In this way, it may be understood that with the bottle 1 relating to the present embodiment, strength sufficient to suppress the buckling of the bottom portion 6 due to volumetric expansion of the contents at time of refrigerated storage (and also heated storage) is ensured.

Other Embodiments

[0036] Lastly, other embodiments of the aseptic filling bottle relating to the present invention will be explained. Incidentally, the arrangements/configurations disclosed in the respective following embodiments can be used in any combination with the arrangements/configurations disclosed in the other embodiments unless no contradiction occurs resulting therefrom.

[0037] (1) In the foregoing embodiment, there was explained an example in which the body portion 5 is configured as a straight body type. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For instance, the body portion 5 may be provided with a constricted portion, in addition to the straight body portion.

[0038] (2) In the foregoing embodiment, between the respective receded groove portions 14, a receded small groove portion smaller than the receded groove portion 14 may be provided additionally from the grounding portion 10 to the circumferential edge portion 11. With this, the strength of the bottom portion can be further increased.

[0039] (3) Further, regarding the other arrangements/configurations too, it is understood that the embodiments disclosed in this detailed disclosure are only illustrative in all respects thereof, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. One skilled in the art could easily understand that appropriate modifications will be possible within the scope not departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is as a matter of course that other embodiments with such modifications not departing form the spirit of the invention are also included in the scope of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0040] The present invention is applicable to e.g. a plastic bottle filled with contents liquid by an aseptic filling method.

DESCRIPTION OF SIGNS

[0041] 1: aseptic filling bottle

[0042] 2: spout portion

[0043] 4: shoulder portion

[0044] 5: body portion

[0045] 6: bottom portion

[0046] 7: receded rib

[0047] 10: grounding portion

[0048] 11: circumferential edge

[0049] 12: central portion

[0050] 13: dome portion

[0051] 14: receded groove portion

[0052] D1: projection height of central portion at dome portion side circumferential edge to bottle inner side

[0053] D2: a half of height from grounding portion to border between body portion and bottom portion

[0054] D3: height at position in receded groove portion corresponding to radial center of grounding portion