Reusable plastics container

Abstract

The invention relates to a reusable plastics container (100), comprising a container body (20), a container base (10) and a container opening (30) located opposite the container base. A repeating structure (21), in particular a honeycomb structure, formed by depressions (22) and ribs (23) surrounding the depressions (22) is disposed on the container body (20). Alternatively, grooves are disposed on the container body. At least 90% of the surfaces of the depressions (22) and of the ribs (23) and/or the grooves are visible from the container opening (30).

Claims

1. A reusable plastics container (100) comprising a container body (20), a container base (10) and a container opening (30) located opposite the container base, wherein a repeating honeycomb structure (21) formed by depressions (22), which are deformations of the container body in the direction of the interior of the plastics container, and ribs (23) enclosing the depressions (22) is arranged on the container body (20), wherein at least 90% of the surfaces of the depressions (22) and the ribs (23) are visible from the container opening (30).

2. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein at least 95% of the surfaces of the depressions (22) and the ribs (23) are visible from the container opening (30).

3. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein at least 98% of the surfaces of the depressions (22) and the ribs (23) are visible from the container opening (30).

4. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the surfaces of the depressions (22) and the ribs (23) are completely visible from the container opening (30).

5. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the honeycomb structure (21) has a honeycomb size between 10 mm and 35 mm.

6. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the depressions (22) of the honeycomb structure (21) have a depth between 3 mm and 8 mm.

7. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein transitions from the ribs (23) to the depressions (22) have radii that are greater than 1 mm.

8. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein grooves (40) are formed on the container body (20) which are formed at an angle between 0 and 30 to the horizontal, wherein at least 90% of the surfaces of the grooves (40) are visible from the container opening (30).

9. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 8, wherein the grooves (40) have a width of 1 mm to 9 mm.

10. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 8, wherein the grooves (40) have a depth of 1 mm to 6 mm.

11. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 8, wherein transitions of the grooves (40) to the container body (20) have radii that are greater than 1 mm.

12. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the reusable plastics container (100) has an average wall thickness between 0.3 mm and 0.6 mm in a region of the container body.

13. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the reusable plastics container (100) is formed from materials from the list comprising PET, PEN, PLA, PEF, PE, PP, or mixtures thereof.

14. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 13, wherein the materials have a viscosity of 0.7 to 1.1 dl/g, preferably up to 0.9 dl/g, measured according to ASTM D4603 on the input pellets.

15. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 13, wherein copolymers from the list of copolymers having 0.5% to 3% IPA, CHDM, FDCA or DEG are selected as the materials.

16. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the reusable plastics container (100) is stiffened by the grooves (40) or by the repeating structure (21) in such a way that a punctual force of 30N per cm.sup.2 does not cause plastic deformation.

17. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the number of colony-forming units (CFU) after the washing process is less than 30.

18. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the honeycomb structure and grooves (40) extend from an exterior surface of the container body inwardly and are formed in portions on the container body (20).

19. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the reusable plastics container has a volume of 200 ml to 3000 ml.

20. The reusable plastics container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the reusable plastics container is produced from a preform by a plug-in blow molding method.

Description

(1) Embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to schematic figures. In the figures:

(2) FIG. 1: shows a reusable plastics container;

(3) FIG. 2: shows a detail view of the structure;

(4) FIG. 3: shows a cross-section through the structure;

(5) FIG. 4: shows a sectional view through the reusable plastics container according to FIG. 1;

(6) FIG. 5: shows another sectional view through the reusable plastics container according to FIG. 1;

(7) FIG. 6: shows a sectional view analogous to the sectional view of FIG. 2 through an alternative reusable plastics container.

(8) FIG. 1 shows a reusable plastics container 100. The reusable plastics container 100 has a container body 20, a container base 10 and a container opening 30. The container opening 30 is arranged opposite the container base 10.

(9) The container body 20 is substantially cylindrical between the container base 10 and a conically extending container shoulder 31. A plurality of elements which form a repeating structure 21 are arranged in this region. In the present case, this is designed as a honeycomb structure. The repeating structure 21 consists of depressions 22 and ribs 23 which surround the depressions 22.

(10) In the present case, the honeycombs of the honeycomb structure are arranged such that they extend with their longest extension, i.e. the connection of two mutually opposite corners, in the direction of the longitudinal axis X. Accordingly, two opposing sides of the honeycombs also lie in the direction of the longitudinal axis X.

(11) As a result, two adjacent sides of the hexagon form ribs that converge at an angle in the direction of the container opening 30 and also in the direction of the container base 10.

(12) Liquid in the container can easily run along and/or drain along this slope.

(13) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of a portion of the container body 20 or of the repeating structure 21 located on the container body 20. FIG. 2 shows a single depression 22 and a rib 23 running around this depression 22. An outwardly directed bulge 24 is in the center in this depression.

(14) In the present case, the depression 22 is designed as a hexagonal honeycomb. In its greatest length, it has a dimension A3 of 24 mm. The width A4 of the honeycomb between two parallel sides is 21.7 mm.

(15) The depression 22 merges with a radius R1 (see FIG. 3) into a rib 23 adjacent to the depression 22. Between the radius R1 of a first transition and the radius R1 of a second transition, there is a region of the surface of the container body 20 on the rib 23, which region has a width A5 of 1.2 mm.

(16) FIG. 3 shows a cross-section A-A from FIG. 2. The depression 22 is shown in cross-section. The cross-section shown here extends substantially rotationally symmetrically about the axis Z. The depression 22 has a depth A2 of 3.4 mm. In the region of the bulge 24, the depth A1 is about 2.6 mm.

(17) FIG. 4 shows a sectional view through the reusable plastics container 100 of FIG. 1 during the rinsing process along the line B-B from FIG. 1.

(18) The rays S1 to S4 convey the visibility of the depressions 22 starting from the container opening 30. By definition, the center of the container opening 30 is considered to be the starting point. It can be seen that the regions of the depressions 22 at the top in this illustration cannot be seen from the inlet opening 30. However, the remaining surfaces of the depressions 22 are visible from the container opening 30 and can be exposed to a corresponding water jet from the container opening 30.

(19) In other words, only a small region above two sides of the hexagon is not accessible from the container opening 30. However, the remaining four sides and the entire surface of the hexagon can be directly sprayed with a water jet from the container opening 30.

(20) The same also applies to the rib 23 running around the depression 22 (see also FIG. 2). The exposure of the ribs 23 is most apparent in FIG. 5 and in FIG. 4. These are described in the following with reference to this aspect.

(21) FIG. 5 also shows a sectional view through the reusable plastics container of FIG. 1, but somewhat rotated relative to the cross-section from FIG. 4. The cross-section from FIG. 5 extends through the line C-C as drawn in FIG. 1. The section thus extends through the oblique sides of the depressions 22. The visibility of the ribs 23 and depressions 22 is indicated analogously to FIG. 4 by the rays S1 to S4.

(22) As are visible from FIG. 4, a portion of the ribs 23 is oriented vertically, and hence extend in the direction of a water jet which is fed in the reusable plastics container from the container opening 30. These are correspondingly completely exposed to water during the rising process. The oblique sides of the depressions 22 are partially located in the shadow, viewed from the container opening 30, but only to a small extent. This part, which lies in the shadow, is thus not exposed directly to water during the rinsing process. However, this effect is reduced by the slope of these sides.

(23) The direct impact of the water jet onto the surface to be cleaned results in turbulent currents arising here, and coatings on the surface are torn off downright.

(24) FIG. 6 shows a sectional view analogous to the sectional view in FIG. 2 through an alternative reusable plastics container 100.

(25) This reusable plastics container 100 has a plurality of horizontally surrounding ribs 40, in the present case two. The visibility from the container opening 30 is also illustrated by rays not described in detail here. The side of the ribs 40 facing the container opening 30 is completely visible from the container opening 30 and can accordingly be exposed to a water jet during the washing or rinsing process. Only portions of the surface lying in the shadow of the grooves 40 are not directly exposed to water. However, since these regions are very small, the flow remains turbulent even in these regions. Correspondingly, coatings which are arranged in these regions can also be effectively removed.

(26) The grooves 40 according to FIG. 6 have a width of 4.2 mm and a depth of 1.2 mm. The grooves merge with a radius of 1.5 mm into the surface of the container body.

(27) The reusable plastics containers 100, which are described in the present case, have a significantly lower weight compared to the prior art. Nevertheless, it can be cleaned at least just as well and at least as efficiently as the known reusable containers. Due to the arrangement of the structures as proposed, the rigidity of the bottles can be increased, wherein they can still be cleaned easily and efficiently due to their special shape.

(28) Of course, the elements described with regard to individual embodiments can also be combined.