IRREGULAR ALUMINUM CUP AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME

Abstract

An irregular aluminum cup sequentially comprises from bottom to mouth: a cylinder cup bottom (1), a cup body with printing patterns on an exterior surface thereof and having one or more concave body parts (2) and one or more convex body parts (3), with the concave body parts and convex body parts alternately arranged; and a cup mouth (4) having an edge (5) curled outwardly and towards the cup body arranged at the top of the mouth; the cup bottom, the cup body and the cup mouth are of an integral structure. A method is provided for manufacturing the above irregular aluminum cup. The irregular aluminum cup can have various shapes and maintain the design printing.

Claims

1. An irregular aluminum cup, comprising sequentially from bottom to mouth: a cylindrical cup bottom (1), a cup body with printing patterns on an exterior surface thereof and having one or more concave body parts (2) and one or more convex body parts (3), with the concave body parts (2) and convex body parts (3) alternately arranged; and a cup month (4) having an edge (5) curled outwardly and towards the cup body arranged at the top of the mouth (4); wherein the cup bottom (1), the cup body and the cup mouth (4) are of an integral structure.

2. The irregular aluminum cup according to claim 1, wherein the cup body has printing patterns on the whole exterior surface thereof.

3. The irregular aluminum cup according to claim 1, wherein the printing patterns have one to nine colors.

4. The irregular aluminum cup according to claim 2, wherein a diameter of a concave body part (2) is equal to or larger than 70% that of the cup bottom (1).

5. The irregular aluminum cup according to claim 2, wherein a diameter of a convex body part (3) is smaller than or equal to 1.5 times that of the cup bottom (1).

6. The irregular aluminum cup according to claim 1, wherein the cup month (4) is a convex mouth or a concave mouth.

7. The irregular aluminum cup according to claim 6, wherein the cup body comprises sequentially a concave lower body part (2) and a convex upper body part (3), and the concave cup mouth (4) is a concave mouth.

8. The irregular aluminum cup according to claim 7, wherein the cup bottom (1), the concave body part (2), the convex body part (3), the cup mouth (4) and the curled edge (5) are of an integral structure.

9. A method for manufacturing an irregular aluminum cup of claim 1 comprising the following steps: a. preprinting patterns on a pre-formed cylindrical aluminum cup blank; b. forming the cup body comprising a concave body part (2) and/or a convex body part (3); and c. forming the cup mouth (4) by necking or expanding, multiple times, an expanded or necked upper part of the cup body via a necking process or an expanding process, a cup being decreased or increased each time, and then curling the cup month (4) via a stamping process.

10. The method for manufacturing an irregular aluminum cup according to claim 9, wherein the pre-formed cylindrical aluminum cup blank is formed by cold extruding an aluminum block and spraying a protection coating onto an inner wall of the aluminum cup blank via an internal coating machine, and preprinting patterns on an exterior surface of the aluminum cup blank is done via an offset printing press with 1 to 9 colors, the preprinted patterns are scaled or stretched as needed in advance.

11. The method for manufacturing an irregular aluminum cup according to claim 9, wherein: the forming the concave body part (2) of step b comprises necking the body part through multiple processes by decreasing the cup diameter each time through a multi station flexible necking process; the forming convex body part (3) of step b comprises expanding the body part through multiple processes by increasing the cup diameter each time through a multi station rigid expanding process.

12. The method for manufacturing an irregular aluminum cup according to claim 11, wherein in the steps b and c, a deformation quantity of the cup diameter in each step is less than or equal to 4 mm.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0032] The invention will be described in more detail in the following with reference to figures, of which:

[0033] FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of an irregular aluminum cup according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0034] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a cross section of a cylindrical aluminum cup blank at step a;

[0035] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a diagram of the aluminum cup blank after a concave cup part is formed at step b;

[0036] FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a diagram of the aluminum cup blank after a concave cup part and a convex cup part are formed at step b; and

[0037] FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a diagram of the aluminum cup blank at step c.

NUMERAL REFERENCES:

[0038] 1cup bottom; 2concave cup part; 3convex cup part; 4cup mouth, 5cured edge

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0039] In order to make objects, technical details and advantages of the embodiments of the invention apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiment will be described in a clearly and fully understandable way in connection with the drawings related to the embodiments of the invention. It is obvious that the described embodiments are just a part but not all of the embodiments of the invention. Based on the described embodiments herein, those skilled in the art can obtain other embodiment(s), without any inventive work, which should be within the scope of the invention.

[0040] An aspect of the invention provides an irregular aluminum cup, which comprises sequentially from bottom to mouth: [0041] a cylindrical cup bottom 1, [0042] a cup body with printing patterns on an exterior surface thereof and having one or more concave body parts 2 and one or more convex body parts 3, the concave body parts 2 and convex body parts 3 are alternately arranged; and [0043] a cup month 4 having an edge 5 curled outwardly and towards the cup body arranged at the top of the mouth; [0044] wherein the cup bottom 1, the cup body and the cup mouth 4 are of an integral structure.

[0045] The cup body has printing patterns on the whole exterior surface thereof, and the printing patterns have one to nine colors.

[0046] A diameter of a concave body part 2 is equal to or larger than 70% that of the cup bottom 1; and a diameter of a convex body 3 part is smaller than or equal to 1.5 times that of the cup bottom 1.

[0047] The cup month 4 is a convex mouth or a concave mouth. When the cup body next to the cup month 4 is a concave body part 2, the cup month is a convex month 4; when the cup body next to the cup month 4 is a convex body part 3, the cup month is a concave month 4.

Embodiment

[0048] FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of an irregular aluminum cup according to an embodiment of the invention. With reference to FIG. 1, the embodiment of the invention provides an irregular aluminum cup, which comprises sequentially from bottom to mouth: a cylindrical cup bottom 1, a concave body part 2, a convex body part 3, and a concave cup month 4, an edge 5 curled outwardly and towards the cup body is arranged at the top of the mouth. The cup bottom 1, the concave body part 2, the convex body part 3, the cup mouth 4 and the curled edge 5 are of an integral structure.

[0049] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a cross section of a cylindrical aluminum cup blank at step a. FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a diagram of the aluminum cup blank after a concave cup part is formed at step b. FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a diagram of the aluminum cup blank after a concave cup part and a convex cup part are formed at step b. FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a diagram of the aluminum cup blank at step c. With reference to FIGS. 2 to 5, another aspect of the invention provides a method for manufacturing the above irregular aluminum cup, the method comprises the following steps: [0050] a. preprinting patterns on a pre-formed cylindrical aluminum cup blank (FIG. 2). [0051] b. forming the cup body comprising the concave body part 2 (FIG. 3) and/or the convex body part 3 (FIG. 4); and [0052] c. forming the cup mouth 4 by necking or expanding, multiple times, an expanded or necked upper part of the cup body via a necking process or an expanding process, a cup diameter being decreased or increased each time, and then curling the cup month 4 via a stamping process (FIG. 5).

[0053] It is noted that the invention may be realized by performing necking via a conventional apparatus capable of mechanical necking process and performing expanding via a conventional apparatus capable of mechanical expanding process. Alternatively, a necking-expanding machine capable of both necking and expanding processes may be used for the above necking and expanding. The necking-expanding machine is a machine has a cover die, onto which a required apparatus and mould may be loaded, such that a conventional apparatus only for necking may perform both necking and expanding. Moreover, the expanded diameter is larger than that of the bottom, thereby realizing high-speed production of aluminum cups and significantly reducing the production cost.

[0054] In the above step a, the pre-formed cylindrical aluminum cup blank is formed by cold extruding an aluminum block and spraying a protection coating onto an inner wall of the aluminum cup blank via an internal coating machine. Then preprinting patterns on an exterior surface of the aluminum cup blank is done via an offset printing press with 1 to 9 colors, the preprinted patterns are scaled or stretched as needed in advance.

[0055] In the above step b, the step of forming the concave body part 2 (see FIG. 3) comprises necking the body part through multiple processes by decreasing the diameter each time through a multistation flexible necking process. The concave shape is formed after multiple processes. The diameter of the concave body part 2 is obviously larger than that of the cup bottom; that is, the diameter of the concave body part 2 is equal to or larger than 70% that of the cup bottom 1.

[0056] The step of forming convex body part 3 (see FIG. 4) of step b comprises expanding the body part through multiple processes by increasing the diameter each time through a multistation rigid expanding process. The convex shape is formed after multiple processes. By multiple expanding processes, the maximum diameter of the cup body is increased to 1.5 times that of the cup bottom 1, while the preprocessed interior and exterior surfaces are not damages, thereby ensuring the interior surface being food-safe and the maintaining the decorative effect of the exterior surface.

[0057] Moreover, in steps b and c, a deformation quantity of the cup body diameter in each step is less than or equal to 4 mm, such that the already finished inner protection coating and exterior decorative printing will not be damaged. It also helps to prevent damages to the surface and internal crystalline structure of the cup body by too large a deformation quantity.

[0058] In summary, the cylindrical aluminum cup black is eventually formed into a cup through multiple necking and expanding processes. The production processes of the invention not only meet the requirements of producing various-shaped products, but also intactly maintain the design printing on the product. Therefore, more attractive product meeting various requirements can be made.

[0059] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention. For a person skilled in the art, the invention may have a variety of changes and modifications. Any change, equivalent replacement, improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the invention.