WO2004048216A1

WO2004048216A1 - Liquid container

Info

Publication number: WO2004048216A1
Application number: PCT/ZA2003/000014
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sean Steven Van Der Merwe
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-11-26
Filing date: 2003-02-05
Publication date: 2004-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 2005-05-26
Also published as: AU2003302427A1

Abstract

A liquid container (10) in the form of bottle comprises a re-entrant chamber (30) in which a toy of the like is received. A label (42) surrounding the bottle serves to retain the toy of the like in the chamber.

Description

LIQUID CONTAINER

This invention relates to liquid containers.

The invention is concerned with liquid containers of the kind used for the retail sale of potable liquids.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a container, preferably in the form of a bottle, adapted to receive a liquid, the outside surface of the container having an indentation or re-entrant portion into which an object may be received. This indentation may be quite shallow so that an object being a paper or paper-like article, such as a "scratch card" or similar, can be placed flat therein. More usually the re-entrant portion is somewhat deeper to receive a larger object such as a key ring, an advertising device, pencil, pen, toy, a miniature sporting member such as a rugby ball, cricket bat or the like, or a charm. The toy may be a motor vehicle or other toy which a child would like to own. It may also be a part of a toy which can be assembled with other parts on other containers to form the toy.

The re-entrant portion is conveniently square in cross-section on a line normal to a radial plane radial of the container although it may be of any other convenient shape such as rectangular, semi-ovaloid, hemi-spherical, cylindrical, hemi-cylindrical, triangular or the like. The sides of the indentation about a plane radial of the container and or normal to the axis of the container is conveniently divergent.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided the combination of a container as set out above with an object in the re-entrant portion. The combination preferably further comprises a member bonded to the surface of the container about the re-entrant portion and extending thereover to retain the object in said portion. This member is preferably in the form of a label which preferably extends all around the surface of the container. The member or a portion thereof may be removable to provide access to the re-entrant portion.

The object may have one face of peculiar shape and the portion is correspondingly shaped so that the object can fit closely therein.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: -

Figure 1 is a front view of a bottle of the invention,

Figure 2 is a section on line 2 - 2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a front view of a modified bottle of the invention,

Figure 4 is a section on line 4 - 4 of Figure 2, Figure 5 is a perspective view of a cardboard container of the invention,

Figure 6 is a section on line 6 - 6 of Figure 5, and

Figure 7 is diagrammatic plan view of the base material from which the container of Figure 6 is formed.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 there is shown a container of the invention. The container is in the form of a transparent plastics bottle 10 formed by blow moulding or injection moulding. It comprises a cylindrical body portion 12 which has an enlarged but shallow peripheral groove 14. Below the groove 14 there is a base portion 16 of conventional shape and above the groove 14, the bottle 10 has a converging portion 18 leading to a top opening (not shown) closed by a cap arrangement 20. The converging portion comprises two parts 22 and 24 which are surfaces of revolution of arcuate shape. The cap arrangement 20 comprises a screw on portion 25 attached to the neck and having an conventional easily openable top 26 so that liquid within the bottle can be accessed without removing the cap arrangement 20. A removable, light, rigid, transparent cover 28 protects the top 26.

The bottle 10 has an indentation or re-entrant portion 30 formed in the outside surface of the body portion 32 within the area defined by the groove 14. This portion 30 which provides a chamber 32 wholly within the envelope of the bottle body portion 12.

The chamber 12 is square in cross-section on a line (indicated at 34) normal to a plane (indicated at 35) radial of the bottle 10. The top and bottom walls 36 and side walls 37 of the chamber 32 diverge from the base 38 of the indentation 30 towards the mouth or portal 40 thereof.

An elongated plastics label 42 is wrapped around the bottle 10 and lies wholly within the groove 14. The label 42, which is slightly wider than the height of the mouth or portal 40, is wrapped around the bottle periphery and covers the portal 40 to the chamber 32. (It is mentioned that the thickness of label is shown out of scale in Figure 2 in the interest of clarity.) The label 42 is bonded by suitable adhesive to the base of the groove 14 about the portal 40 and throughout the remainder of base. The label 42 has a rectangular transparent window 44 and is located so that the window 44 registers with the chamber 32. There may or may not be adhesive on the underside of the window 44 as the manufacturer desires. Within the indentation is a toy which a child deems desirable. This toy in this embodiment is a toy car 46. It will be seen that the label 42 serves as a retaining device to retain the toy car 46 within the indentation 30.

Perforations (indicated at 48) are provided through the label 42 near the window 44 to permit the label 42 to be lifted, thereby enabling the toy 46 to be removed from the re-entrant portion 30. The label 42 can be replaced back over the portion but it will be apparent that it has been opened.

The bottle is filled with any suitable transparent, translucent or non-transparent potable liquid which may be spring or other water, a soft drink or the like.

We have found that the bottle above described is particular attractive to children who are delighted to receive a toy at the same time as purchasing a bottle containing a drink.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4 there is shown a different shaped bottle 50 having a cylindrical body 52. An indentation or re-entrant portion 54 is formed in the body 52. The indentation 54 corresponds to the shape of the front of a charm (not shown) in the form of a face of an "alien" as will be apparent from Figures 3 and 4. The eyes of the charm 4 are conveniently formed of coloured glass. The rear of the charm is flat or may be shaped to conform to the envelope of the bottle 50. A strip of adhesive tape (not shown) will in use hold the charm in the indentation 52.

The bottle 50 is substantially transparent opposite the indentation 52. The bottle 50 is filled with transparent potable liquid 24 usually spring water or the like. On a shelf at the retail outlet, the bottle 50 is placed so that the indentation 52 is at the rear of the bottle 50 and the purchaser looking through the bottle will see the charm, the form of which is distorted by the refraction of light through the liquid. This will give the bottle considerable "customer appeal". Furthermore, the charm can be removed by the purchaser still further contributing to the appeal of the bottle.

In another embodiment as shown in Figure 5, the container is a cardboard container 60 for containing a liquid product e.g. milk, fruit juice or other beverages. The container 60 is a folded unit comprising a front face 62, a rear face, side faces 64, a base 66 and a generally pyramidal top portion 68 which is sealed. The material of the container 60 comprises compressed cardboard 70 which has a liquid proof plastic liner 72 bonded thereto (as shown in Figure 6).

The front face 62 is provided with a re-entrant portion constituted by a recess member 74 located behind a rectangular opening 76. The recess member 74 is formed from the same material as the container 60 comprising compressed cardboard 76 with a liquid proof plastic liner 78 bonded thereto. It has a rectangular base 80 with four upstanding walls 82 having an outwardly directed flange 84 at the ends of the walls. The inner surfaces 86 of the walls 82 and the flange 84 (i.e. the surfaces which will be in contact with the contents of the container 60) are formed by the liner 78.

The flange 84 is located between the cardboard 70 and the liner 72 of the front face 62 at the opening 76. The liner 72 of the front face 62 and the liner 78 of the flange 84 abut and are bonded together which firmly holds the recess member 74 in position and constitutes a liquid proof seal therewith. In use, the cardboard base material 86 is punched to form the necessary openings 76 for the various containers 60 to be formed therefrom (as is best shown in Figure 7). The material of the lining 72 is similarly punched. The recess members 74 are placed in position on the inside of the base material 86 being located over the open- ings 76. The lining material is now applied to the inside of the cardboard base material 86 and bonded thereto. The lining 72 will be bonded to the lining 84 on the inside of the flange of each recess to attach the two parts together (as described above). The containers 60 are then formed in a manner understood by those skilled in the art.

A removable object or premium is in due course inserted in the recess member. It is held within recess member in any convenient manner. For example it may be bonded to thereto by a bonding material which can be removed from the object or recess member. Alternatively a transparent label (not shown) may be applied to the front face 62 of the container 60 covering the opening 76 for this purpose.

In a further modification (not shown), the transparent bottle has a transparent, re-entrant, co-axial cylinder formed therein. This cylinder extends from the base of the bottle a substantial distance along its length. An elongated object such as a doll may be inserted into the cylinder. Suitable means such as a screw-in plug, may be provided to locate the object removably within the cylinder. This bottle enables the removable object to the seen from all directions through the liquid contained therein.

It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely various features of the invention which are for brevity described in the context of a single embodiment may also be provided separately or in any suitable combination.

The invention is not limited to the precise constructional details hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings. For example the removable object may be a charm, another toy, parts of a toy or the like which may be collected and then connected together to form a larger toy. Other removable objects may be key rings, advertising buttons or pendants and the like. The size and shape of the indentation or re-entrant portion may vary as desired. Similarly the shape of the bottle may vary. It may have a smooth frusto-conical converging portion.

In a further modification, the recess or indication may be quite shallow to receive a "scratch card" or the like which would be released by removing the label. The indentation may be placed on a part of the bottle where its shape may change so that the image of the object especially if a charm, when seen through the liquid in the bottle may be still further distorted. The removable object used with the bottle having the co-axial cylinder, may be quite lengthy, i.e. nearly as great as the axial length of the cylindrical part of the bottle and the indentation would then extend for this substantial part of the length of the bottle. In addition the container may be opaque and may be a can or other unit which can be formed with an suitable re-entrant portion and retaining device.

The removable object may also be a (second) liquid. The part containing this removable object may have a common wall with the bottle and means for piercing this common wall so that the second liquid can mix with the potable liquid. The second liquid can be an alcoholic liquid. It may be a mixer such as juice which if mixed with the potable liquid would come out of solution if it stands for any length of time, thus these two liquids can be freshly mixed ready for use.

The bottle and/or the liquid need not be transparent where the object is mounted on the bottle e.g. as shown in Figure 4. Indeed other liquid containers such as glass bottles, or cans may replace the plastic bottle in such circumstances.

Claims

1 A container adapted to receive a liquid, the outside surface of the container having an indentation or re-entrant portion into which an object may be received.

2 A container as claimed in claim 1 in the form of a bottle.

3 A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein the container comprises a folded cardboard container.

4 A container as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein this re-entrant portion is quite shallow so that an object being a "scratch card" or similar paper or paper-like article can be placed flat therein.

5 A container as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the re-entrant portion is of sufficient depth to receive a large object such as a toy or the like.

6 A container as claimed in claim 5 wherein the re-entrant inner portion is square in cross-section.

7 A container as claimed in claim 5 wherein the re-entrant inner portion is rectangular, semi-ovaloid, semi-spherical, or triangular in section.

8 A container as claimed in claim 5 wherein the object that it is intended to receive in the re-entrant portion is of complex shape and wherein the re-entrant portion is correspondingly shaped. 9 A container as claimed in claim 3 or any claim dependant thereon wherein the re-entrant portion is formed by a recess member located behind an opening in a face of the container and bonded thereto.

10 A container as claimed in claim 9 wherein the container comprises a cardboard material which has a liquid proof liner formed on its inner side.

11 A container as claimed in claim 9 and 10 wherein the recess member is provided with walls having a flange at their ends, and wherein the flange is placed between the liner and the cardboard material and bonded to the liner to form a liquid proof seal.

12 A container as claimed in claim 11 wherein the recess member comprises a cardboard material which has a liquid proof liner formed on its inner side, wherein the liner of the container is sealed to the liner of the recess member.

13 The combination of a container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims with an object in the re-entrant portion.

14 The combination of claim 13 further comprising a member covering the opening to the re-entrant portion and extending over the said portion to retain the object in said portion.

15 The combination of claim 14 wherein the said member is in the form of a label.

16 The combination of claim 15 wherein the said label extends all around the body of the container. 17 The combination as claimed in claim 15 or 16 wherein the label has a transparent window opposite to the re-entrant portion so that the object can be viewed through the label.

18 The combination of any one of claims 13 to 17 and when dependant upon claim 4 wherein the object is in the form of a key ring, an advertising device, pencil, pen, toy or charm.

19 The combination of any one of claims 13 to 17 wherein the object has one face of peculiar shape and the re-entrant portion is correspondingly shaped.

20 The combination of claim 19 wherein the object has the appearance of an "alien" .

21 The combination of any one of claims 13 to 20 wherein the container is transparent.

22 The combination of any one of claims 13 to 21 wherein the container contains a liquid.

23 The combination of claims 21 and 22 wherein the liquid is transparent.

24 A container having parts arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.

25 A container having parts arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings. 26 A container having parts arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings.

27 The combination of a container with an object substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.

28 The combination of a container with an object substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings.

29 The combination of a container with an object substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings.