US20110114596A1

US20110114596A1 - Bottle

Info

Publication number: US20110114596A1
Application number: US12/741,874
Authority: US
Inventors: Kyung Il Jung
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-03-19
Filing date: 2010-01-17
Publication date: 2011-05-19
Also published as: US20110174769A1

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a bottle having a neck portion and a body portion for containing liquid contents therein. The body portion includes a plurality of guides which are formed around at least a partial area or an entire area of the body portion in a spiral pattern. The guides protrude inwards from the inner surface of the body portion to have convex shapes, so that the liquid contents are guided towards an opening of the neck portion while spirally revolving inside the body portion, and the body portion is able to be compressed by compression force with respect to a longitudinal direction. A cross-section of each of the plurality of guides has an angled shape of “>” or “<”, and an outermost midpoint (c) of a horizontal medial line of the guide has a round shape, a pointed shape or a vertically angled shape. An upper bent point (a) is formed in an upper portion extending upwards from the outermost midpoint (c) of each of the guides, and a lower bent point (c) is formed in a lower portion extending downwards from the outermost midpoint (c), so that an upright strength of the body portion is maintained even when the liquid contents contained in the body portion move.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bottle for containing liquid contents therein, and more particularly to a bottle which includes a plurality of guides which have angled structures provided with bent points and are arranged in a spiral pattern, so that liquid contents can be smoothly discharged from the bottle, the upright strength of the bottle can be maintained even though the liquid contents move excessively, and when the bottle is crushed by compressing, the guides are compressed in such a way that lower bent points are bent towards and folded into upper bent points, thus minimizing the restoring force of the guides after the bottle has been crushed.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, beverages, such as water and colas, liquors, or liquid-type food, are contained in various kinds of containers. Examples of such liquid containers are paper bottles, PET bottles, glass bottles, and metal bottles (aluminum cans).
Of these containers, the PET bottle is the most popular liquid container thanks to its many advantages, such as that it can contain contents for a relatively long time, i.e. contents in the PET bottle barely decay after a long time of storage because gas transmittance of the PET bottle is very low compared with other kinds of containers, it hardly breaks when it is dropped in a state in which it is filled with contents, it does not produce broken pieces even when it is ruptured, and it is convenient to carry and keep the PET bottle because the PET bottle is lighter than a glass bottle.
The known PET bottle having the above advantages is generally composed of a neck portion which has an opening at an end and threads on an outer surface thereof for sealing when the neck portion is combined with a cover, and a body portion extending from the neck portion and containing contents therein. The body portion may be of various sizes and forms according to the type of contents.
There are ways of discharging the contents of the PET bottle. For example, when a user tilts the PET bottle to pour the contents into a vessel, such as a cup, or to directly drink the contents from the PET bottle, the contents are discharged from the PET bottle.
In such a case, there is a possibility that the contents contained in the body portion of the PET bottle are not smoothly discharged but are abruptly discharged at excessive pressure, so that the contents are likely to gush out of the PET bottle and to splatter on a user's clothes or the surrounding area.
In particular, when the user directly drinks the contents from the bottle, the user may choke or his or her clothes or body may get splashed.
Further, since the bottles have large volumes even when they are empty, it is difficult to deal with the empty bottles or it is required to install additional equipment in households to reduce the volume of the empty bottles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a bottle which is configured such that liquid contents can be smoothly discharged from the bottle and the volume of the bottle can be minimized after it has been empty, thus facilitating the handling of empty bottles, for example, facilitating collection or transportation of the empty bottles.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a bottle which is provided with angled guides having bent points, so that the upright strength of the bottle can be maintained despite movement of the liquid contents contained in the bottle, and when the bottle is crushed by compressing, the guides are compressed in such a way that lower bent points are bent towards and folded into upper bent points, thus minimizing the restoring force of the guides after the bottle has been crushed.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a bottle having a neck portion and a body portion for containing liquid contents therein, the body portion including: a plurality of guides formed around at least a partial area or an entire area of the body portion in a spiral pattern, the guides protruding inwards from an inner surface of the body portion to have convex shapes, so that the liquid contents are guided towards an opening of the neck portion while spirally revolving inside the body portion, and the body portion is able to be compressed by compression force with respect to a longitudinal direction. A cross-section of each of the plurality of guides has an angled shape of “>” or “<”, and an outermost midpoint (c) of a horizontal medial line of the guide has a round shape, a pointed shape or a vertically angled shape.
Preferably, an upper bent point (a) may be formed in an upper portion extending upwards from the outermost midpoint (c) of each of the guides, and a lower bent point (c) may be formed in a lower portion extending downwards from the outermost midpoint (c), so that an upright strength of the body portion is maintained even when the liquid contents contained in the body portion move.
Furthermore, a distance between the outermost midpoint (c) and the upper bent point (a) may differ from a distance between the outermost midpoint (c) and the lower bent point (b) so that the upper bent point (a) and the lower bent point (b) are misaligned from each other, and a length (ac) of a portion connecting the outermost midpoint (c) to the upper bent point (a) may be greater than a length (bc) of a portion connecting the outermost midpoint (c) to the lower bent point (b), and an interior angle of the lower bent point (b) may be greater than an interior angle of the upper bent point (a), so that when the bottle is crushed by compressing, the guides are compressed in such a way that the lower bent point (b) having the larger interior angle is bent towards and folded into the upper bent point (a) having the smaller interior angle, thus minimizing restoring force of the guides after the guides are compressed.
In addition, a cross-section of an inner junction between the adjacent guides may have a round shape, a vertically angled shape or a pointed shape.
The plurality of guides may comprise at least four or more even number of spiral lines, and the guides spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.
The bottle may comprise a paper bottle, a PET bottle, a metal bottle or a glass bottle.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a bottle having a neck portion and a body portion for containing liquid contents therein, the body portion including: a plurality of guides formed around at least partial area or an entire area of the body portion in a spiral pattern, the guides protruding inwards from an inner surface of the body portion to have convex shapes, so that the liquid contents are guided towards an opening of the neck portion while spirally revolving inside the body portion. A cross-section of each of the plurality of guides has an angled shape of “>” or “<”, and an outermost midpoint (c) of a horizontal medial line of the guide has a round shape, a pointed shape or a vertically angled shape, and a lower bent point (c) is formed in a lower portion extending downwards from the outermost midpoint (c) of the guide. The guide is configured such that an upper interior angle (x) of the upper portion with respect to the horizontal medial line of the outermost midpoint (c) is greater than a lower interior angle (y) of the lower portion below the lower bent point (b) with respect to the horizontal line. A horizontal length (AC) of a portion connecting the outermost midpoint (c) to the inner junction between the adjacent guides is greater than a horizontal length (AB) of a portion connecting the lower bent point (b) to the inner junction between the guides, so that when the bottle is crushed by compressing, each of the guides is compressed in such a way that the lower bent point (b) is bent upwards and folded onto the upper portion of the guide, thus minimizing restoring force of the guides after the guides are compressed, and maintaining an upright strength of the body portion even when the liquid contents contained in the body portion move.
As described above, the bottle according to the present invention is configured such that liquid contents in the bottle can be smoothly discharged from the bottle while spirally revolving inside the bottle, thus preventing the liquid contents from being abruptly discharged. Furthermore, when the bottle is crushed by compressing, it is twisted along a spiral pattern and compressed, so that the volume of the bottle can be markedly reduced, thus facilitating the collection or handling of empty bottles.
Furthermore, the bottle of the present invention includes a plurality of angled guides which have bent points at upper and lower portions thereof, so that the upright strength of the bottle can be maintained despite movement of the liquid contents contained in the bottle. In addition, when the bottle is crushed by compressing, the guides are compressed in such a way that the lower bent point is bent towards and folded into the upper bent point. Thereby, after the bottle has been crushed, the restoring force is removed, so that the volume of the bottle can be maintained in the minimized state.
Moreover, in the present invention, the liquid contents in the bottle can be smoothly guided toward and discharged through the opening of the bottle while spirally revolving inside the bottle. Therefore, the abrupt gushing of the liquid content is prevented, so that it is possible to smoothly pour and drive the liquid contents from the bottle and to prevent splattering of the liquid contents attributable to the abrupt discharge of the liquid contents from occurring.
In the case in which the bottle is used to contain a beverage, such as water, cola, or juice, since the flow of the beverage is moderate, it is possible to prevent accidents such as the user choking.
Furthermore, in the present invention, the guides are tightly compressed in multi-steps, and the restoring force is removed after the guides have been compressed, so that the volume of the bottle can be maintained in the minimized state, thus facilitating the collection and handling of empty bottles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a bottle, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b are sectional views taken along line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 a through 3 d are views showing examples of guides of the bottle according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view illustrating the shape of the guide of the bottle according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a detailed sectional view showing the shape of the guide of the bottle according to the present invention;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views showing various shapes of the inner junctions between the guides according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a process of compressing the guides according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 a sectional view showing another example of the shape of the guide according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a process of compressing the guides of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is of views illustrating a process of crushing a bottle made of PET according to the present invention.


<Description of the elements in the drawings>

	100: bottle (PET bottle)	110: neck portion
	111: opening	112: thread
	113: cover	120: body portion
	121: guide
	a: upper bent point	b: lower bent point
	c: outermost midpoint
	ac: upper length	bc: lower length
	a′: interior angle of upper bent point
	b′: interior angle of lower bent point
	x: upper interior angle	y: lower interior angle
	AC: upper horizontal length	AB: lower horizontal length

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a bottle, according to an embodiment of the invention. FIGS. 2 a and 2 b are sectional views taken along line A-A of FIG. 1. FIGS. 3 a through 3 d are views showing examples of guides of the bottle according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a front view illustrating the shape of the guide of the bottle according to the present invention.
As shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the bottle according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a neck portion 110 and a body portion 120.
The neck portion 110 has an opening 111 and a thread 112 to be combined with a cover 113 in a screwed manner. Alternatively, the neck portion 110 may be combined with the cover 113 in manners different from the screwed manner for ensuring sealing of the bottle. For example, the cover 113 may be combined with the neck portion 110 in a manner such that the cover 113 is removably fitted over the neck portion 110.
The body portion 120 extends from the neck portion 110 and contains liquid contents therein.
The bottle 100 having the above-mentioned structure can contain a beverage, such as water or cola, liquor, saline solution, or a liquid-type food, and can be made of various materials.
According to the kind of material, the bottle 100 can be one of a paper bottle, a PET bottle, a metal (aluminum) bottle or a glass bottle.
Hereinafter, the case where the bottle 100 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a PET (polyethylene terephthalate resin) bottle will be explained as one example.
The body portion 120 includes a plurality of guides 121 which protrude inwards from a partial area or entirety of the circumferential inner surface of the body portion 120 to have convex shapes and are formed in a spiral pattern, so that the liquid contents proceed towards the opening 111 of the neck portion 110 while spirally revolving inside the bottle 100 and are then discharged out of the bottle 100.
Here, when seen by the longitudinal cross-section of the body portion 120 having the guides 121, as shown in FIG. 5, each guide 121 has an angled shape of “>” or “<.” As shown in FIG. 6, an outermost midpoint (c) of a horizontal medial line of each guide 121 has one of a round shape, a pointed shape or a vertically angled shape.
In the present invention, when compression force is applied to the bottle, the midpoint of each spiral guide is folded over along the length thereof and the bottle can be thus compressed with respect to the longitudinal direction of the bottle. This is the critical characteristic of the present invention. The pitch angle of the spiral guide is determined in consideration of a degree with which the length of the bottle is varied by compressing.
In detail, as shown in FIG. 5, in each of the plurality of guides 121, an upper bent point (a) is formed in an upper portion extending upwards from the outermost midpoint (c) of the guide 121, and a lower bent point (c) is formed in a lower portion extending downwards from the outermost midpoint (c).
The bottle 100 provided with the plurality of guides 121 having the angled shapes can maintain the upright strength despite movement of the liquid contents contained in the bottle 100.
Furthermore, in each guide 121, a distance between the outermost midpoint (c) and the upper bent point (a) differs from a distance between the outermost midpoint (c) and the lower bent point (b), such that the upper bent point (a) and the lower bent point (b) are misaligned from each other.
In other words, a length (ac) of a portion connecting the outermost midpoint (c) to the upper bent point (a) is greater than a length (bc) of a portion connecting the outermost midpoint (c) to the lower bent point (b). An interior angle (b′) of the lower bent point (b) is greater than an interior angle (a′) of the upper bent point (a).
Thanks to this structure, as shown in FIG. 8, when the bottle 100 is crushed by compressing, the guides 121 are compressed in such a way that the lower bent point (b) having the large interior angle is bent towards and folded into the upper bent point (a) having the small interior angle. Thereby, after the guides 121 have been compressed, the restoring force is removed, so that the volume of the bottle 100 can be maintained in the minimized state, thus facilitating collection of empty bottles.
Furthermore, inner junctions between the guides 121 which form the inner surface of the bottle can have various shapes.
FIGS. 7 a through 7 c are views showing various cross-sectional shapes of the inner junctions between the guides 121 according to the present invention. FIG. 7 a illustrates a pointed shape of the cross-section of the inner junction between the guides 121, FIG. 7 b illustrates a round shape, and FIG. 7 c illustrates a vertically angled shape.
In addition, the guides 121 basically have four spiral lines or more even number of spiral lines. The guides 221 spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.
FIG. 2 a shows the case in which the number of guides 121 is eight, and FIG. 2 b shows the case in which the number of guides 121 is four.
FIGS. 3 a through 3 d are views showing examples of the guides 121 of the bottle according to the present invention. FIG. 3 a illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 121 is formed only on the upper area of the body portion 120. FIG. 3 b illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 121 is formed on the entirety of the body portion 120. FIG. 3 c illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 121 is formed on only a portion or entirety of the lower area of the body portion 120. FIG. 3 d illustrates an example in which a plurality of guides 121 is formed on the entirety of the body portion 120 but the inner surface of the lower area thereof is planar.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing another example of the shape of the guide. FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a process of compressing the guides 121 of FIG. 9.
The general construction of the bottle of FIGS. 9 and 10 remains the same as that of the bottle 100 shown in FIGS. 1 through 8, but the shape of each guide 121 of FIGS. 9 and 10 differs from that of the guide 121 of FIGS. 1 through 8.
In the description of the guides 121 of FIGS. 9 and 10, the guides 121 can be applied to the bottle 100 shown in FIGS. 1 through 8, and repetitive description of the same structure of the guide 121 of FIGS. 9 and 10 as that of FIGS. 1 through 8 will be omitted and only the differences therebetween will be described.
When seen by the longitudinal cross-section of the body portion 120, each guide 121 has an angled shape of “>” or “<.” Furthermore, an outermost midpoint (c) of a horizontal medial line of each guide 121 has one of a round shape, a pointed shape or a vertically angled shape. Here, unlike the guide of FIGS. 1 through 8, in the guide 121 of FIGS. 9 and 10, only a lower bent point (b) is formed in a lower portion extending downwards from the outermost midpoint (c).
In addition, the guide 121 is configured such that an upper interior angle (x) of the upper portion with respect to the horizontal medial line of the outermost midpoint (c) is greater than a lower interior angle (y) of the lower portion below the lower bent point (b) with respect to the horizontal line.
Furthermore, a horizontal length (AC) of a portion connecting the outermost midpoint (c) to the inner junction between the guides 121 is greater than a horizontal length (AB) of a portion connecting the lower bent point (b) to the inner junction between the guides 121.
When the guides 121 having the above-mentioned structure are compressed, in the same manner as the guides 121 of the bottle 100 of FIGS. 1 through 8, the lower bent point (b) is bent upwards and folded onto the upper portion of the guide. Of course, after the guides 121 have been compressed, the restoring force thereof is minimized. In addition, the bottle having the guides 121 of FIGS. 1 through 8 can maintain the upright strength despite movement of the liquid contents contained in the bottle.
As shown in FIG. 11, when the bottle 100 is crushed and distorted by twisting and compressing along the guides 121 formed in the body portion 120, in the case of FIG. 8, each guide 121 is compressed in such a way that the lower bent point (b) having the large interior angle is bent towards and folded into the upper bent point (a) having the small interior angle. After the guide 121 has been compressed, the restoring force thereof is completely removed.
In the case of the guide 121 of FIG. 10 having no upper bent point, each guide 121 is compressed in such a way that the lower bent point (b) is bent upwards and folded onto the upper portion of the guide 121. After the guide 121 has been compressed, the restoring force thereof is completely removed in the same manner as that of FIG. 8.
Hence, if no force is applied to the crushed bottle, it is maintained in the crushed state having the minimized volume. Thus, collection of empty bottles can be facilitated.
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A bottle having a neck portion and a body portion for containing liquid contents therein, the body portion comprising:

a plurality of guides formed around at least a partial area or an entire area of the body portion in a spiral pattern, the guides protruding inwards from an inner surface of the body portion to have convex shapes, so that the liquid contents are guided towards an opening of the neck portion while spirally revolving inside the body portion, and the body portion is able to be compressed by compression force with respect to a longitudinal direction,

wherein a cross-section of each of the plurality of guides has an angled shape of “>” or “<”, and an outermost midpoint (c) of a horizontal medial line of the guide has a round shape, a pointed shape or a vertically angled shape.

2. The bottle as set forth in claim 1, wherein an upper bent point (a) is formed in an upper portion extending upwards from the outermost midpoint (c) of each of the guides, and a lower bent point (c) is formed in a lower portion extending downwards from the outermost midpoint (c), so that an upright strength of the body portion is maintained even when the liquid contents contained in the body portion move.

3. The bottle as set forth in claim 2, wherein a distance between the outermost midpoint (c) and the upper bent point (a) differs from a distance between the outermost midpoint (c) and the lower bent point (b) so that the upper bent point (a) and the lower bent point (b) are misaligned from each other, and

a length (ac) of a portion connecting the outermost midpoint (c) to the upper bent point (a) is greater than a length (bc) of a portion connecting the outermost midpoint (c) to the lower bent point (b), and an interior angle of the lower bent point (b) is greater than an interior angle of the upper bent point (a), so that when the bottle is crushed by compressing, the guides are compressed in such a way that the lower bent point (b) having the larger interior angle is bent towards and folded into the upper bent point (a) having the smaller interior angle, thus minimizing restoring force of the guides after the guides are compressed.

4. The bottle as set forth in claim 1, wherein a cross-section of an inner junction between the adjacent guides has a round shape, a vertically angled shape or a pointed shape.

5. The bottle as set forth in claim 1, wherein the plurality of guides comprises at least four or more even number of spiral lines, and the guides spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

6. The bottle as set forth in claim 5, comprising a paper bottle, a PET bottle, a metal bottle or a glass bottle.

7. A bottle having a neck portion and a body portion for containing liquid contents therein, the body portion comprising:

a plurality of guides formed around at least partial area or an entire area of the body portion in a spiral pattern, the guides protruding inwards from an inner surface of the body portion to have convex shapes, so that the liquid contents are guided towards an opening of the neck portion while spirally revolving inside the body portion,

wherein a cross-section of each of the plurality of guides has an angled shape of “>” or “<”, and an outermost midpoint (c) of a horizontal medial line of the guide has a round shape, a pointed shape or a vertically angled shape, and a lower bent point (c) is formed in a lower portion extending downwards from the outermost midpoint (c) of the guide,

the guide is configured such that an upper interior angle (x) of the upper portion with respect to the horizontal medial line of the outermost midpoint (c) is greater than a lower interior angle (y) of the lower portion below the lower bent point (b) with respect to the horizontal line, and

a horizontal length (AC) of a portion connecting the outermost midpoint (c) to the inner junction between the adjacent guides is greater than a horizontal length (AB) of a portion connecting the lower bent point (b) to the inner junction between the guides, so that when the bottle is crushed by compressing, each of the guides is compressed in such a way that the lower bent point (b) is bent upwards and folded onto the upper portion of the guide, thus minimizing restoring force of the guides after the guides are compressed, and maintaining an upright strength of the body portion even when the liquid contents contained in the body portion move.

8. The bottle as set forth in claim 7, wherein a cross-section of an inner junction between the adjacent guides has a round shape, a vertically angled shape or a pointed shape, and

the plurality of guides comprises at least four or more even number of spiral lines, and the guides spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

9. The bottle as set forth in claim 7, comprising a paper bottle, a PET bottle, a metal bottle or a glass bottle.

10. The bottle as set forth in claim 8, comprising a paper bottle, a PET bottle, a metal bottle or a glass bottle.

11. The bottle as set forth in claim 2, wherein the plurality of guides comprises at least four or more even number of spiral lines, and the guides spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

12. The bottle as set forth in claim 3, wherein the plurality of guides comprises at least four or more even number of spiral lines, and the guides spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.

13. The bottle as set forth in claim 4, wherein the plurality of guides comprises at least four or more even number of spiral lines, and the guides spiral in either of the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.