Insulated container and method of manufacturing the same

[0001] The present invention relates generally to containers. In particular, it relates to insulated containers for hot beverages or the like and a method of making such containers.

[0002] There are many examples of such containers, characterized by insulation, for use in hot liquids such as coffee, tea, soups and the like in the prior art. Examples can be found in US-A-2,266,828, US-A-4,007,670, US-A5,145,107, US-A-5,460,323, US-A-5,524,817, US-A-5,685,480 and US-A-6,663,926. Each of these containers contains an inner cup and an outer shell separated from it by a layer of air. In modern containers, this type of mug is made of thin cardboard coated on the inside with polyethylene resin or the like. The cup and crust are connected by gluing them in strategic places at the top and bottom, or, in some recent cases, by hot sticking. The layer of air between the wall of the cup body and the shell can be held with spacers of different configurations.

[0003] Document JP 2001/293802 discloses a cup made of paper with an inner wall and with an outer wall that are connected to each other by means of a sealing varnish applied around the perimeter of the wall when hot. The outer wall comprises a curl at the end directed towards the opening of the container. The inner wall has a lip edge that is attached to the outer surface of the hot wrap by a circular sealing of sealing varnish.

[0004] Document US 5,460,323 shows a container with an inner wall and an outer shell. The part of the inner wall constituting the side wall is arched inwards. The container is formed of three blanks that are coated on at least one side. The tab is sealed. The bottom is tightly connected to the bottom edge of the pattern. The outer cover is wrapped around the inner container, the coating on the edge part being heated, and both parts are bonded together where they overlap and pressed together. In addition, the lower parts of the heated edge areas connect to the bottom rim.

EP 1 712 490 [0005] Document JP 2001/294282 depicts a container with a body which has a plurality of longitudinal ribs projecting outwards, and the upper edge portion has a collar. Adhesive tape is wound around the entire perimeter of the body for connecting the ribs and a shrink label is provided.

[0006] US 4,344,814 discloses a device for hot welding round containers. The container is formed from a blank that is folded to form multiple overlays connected to each other by side wall seams. The device includes a ring-shaped heated collar which is moved into contact with the periphery of the container and then heat is applied evenly over the entire perimeter. It also has a locking member inserted into the container. Further device attachments extend longitudinally and also include a heating element. Thus, the flange sections transfer heat to the periphery, and the attachments transfer heat to the seam extending along the pattern, which causes the container to fuse together.

[0007] The object of the present invention is to provide an improved insulated container and method for its manufacture such that improved connections between the cup and its shell are easily made by means of an improved connection method.

[0008] The above-mentioned object and other objects are realized by means of an insulated container with the features of claim 1, and a method of producing such a container by the features of claim 10.

[0009] At least on the inside of the shell or on the outside of the cup body, a thermo-weld plastic coating is provided, and after heating the coating and sealing the cup to the shell, only at least one connecting place and / or one connecting area is created locally. with a suitable contact path to connect the shell to the cup body. This "contact path" is, in general, a virtual contact path along which the outer surface of the cup body and the inner surface of the shell can remain in contact when the cup is seated in the shell. However, it is not necessary for the actual contact to occur between the respective shell walls and the cup body along their entire perimeter, since the contact path can only occur on a part of the perimeter, with suitable interconnecting places and / or connecting areas located within this contact path. They are produced only locally by a suitable method, with the walls of the shell and body

The cups are pressed against each other in at least one of these connecting places and / or connecting areas located inside the contact path.

[0010] Since a suitable thermoplastic plastic coating of the eye is fused before the cup is inserted into the shell, both of these parts will be joined by means of this coating after it has hardened in respective connecting places and / or connecting areas.

[0011] It is of course possible that the contact path is an annular path that can completely encircle the cup body and shell, and may have specific vertical branches, perpendicular to the respective circumferential direction.

[0012] It is sufficient to use only one connecting space or connecting area, as they are used only to prevent loss of the cup during its folding, packaging, stacking, etc. After filling the container with suitable hot liquid or the like, the inner cup will remain inside crusts mainly due to the weight of this fluid, so that the corresponding connecting place or connecting area only need to provide a small bonding force.

[0013] It is also possible to securely secure the cup body and shell to each other, for example, by providing a series of connecting places and / or connecting areas formed along the contact path, separated from each other by free parts of this contact path. In addition, connecting places and / or connecting areas can be located next to each other and separated from each other on the contact path in the horizontal or vertical direction. This means that the individual connecting places or connecting areas are arranged in a horizontal or vertical direction or that the groups of connecting places or connecting areas that are arranged in a vertical direction are, for example, side by side in a horizontal or vertical direction.

[0014] It is possible to provide corresponding connecting places and / or connecting areas evenly distributed in the circumferential direction. For improving the container assembly, as well as the corresponding manufacturing method, it may be advantageous if the connecting places and / or connecting areas are evenly distributed.

[0015] A suitable insulated container has a gap between the cup wall and the shell wall in the bottom section of the container, and generally this air-filled gap should be maintained without any heat transfer connections. Consequently, it is preferred to create a suitable contact path between the annular upper wall section of the cup body and the upper, generally cylindrical, shell section. In that

In the container parts, an adequate gap is not necessary, since the contact path is located above the level of the beverage filling the container.

[0016] It is also possible to arrange connecting places and / or connecting areas immediately adjacent the lower edge of the annular upper wall section of the cup body, where its upper projection is formed. Below this performance the interval will begin.

[0017] It is possible to make the shell or cup from various materials, at least one of these elements may be made of a suitable plastic. Due to recycling it is also possible to make a cup and / or shell from cardboard. In order to achieve sufficient fluid impermeability for at least the cup, a suitable cupboard carton is coated with the above-mentioned polyethylene resin or the like. Of course, this carton can also be coated with a heat-sealable plastic covering, which can be provided outside the cup wall, inside the shell wall, or it can be placed on both sides.

[0018] Suitable connecting places or connecting areas may have different shapes. For example, connecting places can be circular, rectangular or with a different cross-section. The respective connecting areas may be in the form of short strips, the strips may be arranged horizontally or may be inclined relative to the circumferential direction.

[0019] To melt the corresponding plastic coating, local heating is sufficient, but it is also possible to heat the entire annular strip of plastic coating.

[0020] To obtain sufficient force to press together the cup wall and shell wall until the thermo-seal plastic coating has hardened again, the first annular member with at least one radially displaceable or protruding pressing member is placed inside the cup body, the pressure element pressing on the second, outer member to press together the walls of the cup body and the shell, by means of these two members, to create one or more connecting places and / or connecting areas. Of course, it is also possible for the respective pressing members to be part of the second, outer member, or for these pressing members to be provided by both members.

[0021] It is also possible that such pressure members are not in direct contact with one of the container walls, but that they deform, for example, a circular elastic ring from its inside, and that this ring by its deformed outer in part, it pressed against each other the walls of the cup body and shell in cooperation with the second member.

[0022] A suitable device for connecting the outer shell and the inner cup, to form an insulated container for hot liquids and the like, includes a first member to be placed inside the inner cup, a second member generally concentric with the first member and placed outside the outer shell, and at least one radially protruding or displaced biasing member, for biasing the mutually facing walls of the shell and the cup to form one or more connecting places and / or connecting areas along the perimeter of the shell and the cup.

[0023] The first member may be a circular ring or disk which is inserted into the cup body. This circular ring or disc may hold the respective biasing member or members so that they are displaced in the radial direction.

[0024] A simple embodiment of such a movable biasing member is a movable rod displaceably supported by the first and / or second member.

[0025] For a uniformly distributed connecting places or connecting areas along the perimeter of the first or second member, a suitable number of radially displaceable biasing members are evenly distributed.

[0026] To position the shell before inserting the cup body into it, it is preferred that the device includes a receiving member having at least a peripheral portion and an upper flange for holding the shell.

[0027] To use a suitable receiving member also as a second or outer member, an anti-pressure extension can protrude from the upper flange of this receiving member in a substantially vertical direction. Suitable movable biasing members may be part of the first or second member and a separate member is not required. [0028] It is also possible to use the receiving member to hold the cup body in a certain position, this can be done by means of the upper end of the anti-pressure extension that is used as a seat for the outer curl of the cup body.

EP 1 712 490 [0029] The present invention, together with the container structure and the method of its production, is shown, more or less schematically, in drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of an insulated container including an inner cup and outer shell, in a first embodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the container of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a side view of the container of Fig. 1, with the container elements in a vertical section,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, vertical, partial section through the upper part of the shell of the container of Fig. 1, showing the first stage of assembling the container,

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 4 showing a cup placed in a shell,

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view, similarly to Fig. 4, showing spot welding of the shell and cup in the next stage of container assembly,

Fig. 7 shows a top view of the container and corresponding spot welding tool or device,

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the container associated with the tool of Fig. 7 for spot welding according to the present invention,

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of an insulated container in a second embodiment thereof according to the present invention,

Fig. 10 is a sectional view like Fig. 4 of the second embodiment of the present invention showing the first assembly step,

Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view like Fig. 5 of the second embodiment of the container in the next assembly step, a

Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view like Fig. 6 of a second embodiment of the container showing the next assembly step.

[0030] With reference to the drawings, in particular to Figures 1 to 3, a hot drink container embodying the features of the first embodiment of the present invention is generally designated 10. This container comprises an inner cup 12 and

EP 1 712 490 outer shell 14 assembled together telescopically and in points connected to each other according to the present invention.

[0031] According to Fig. 3, the inner cup 12 comprises a cup body 22 and a cup bottom 24, formed separately from cardboard in a conventional manner. Before making the container, the cardboard is coated on one side with a heat-sealable plastic material such as polyethylene or the like. The folded cup 12 then has an inner polyethylene coating 15 on all or part of its inner surface.

[0032] The conical, chamfered wall 29 of the cup body 22 has an annular projection 31 formed by bending it inwards, near the bottom 24 of the cup. The protrusion 31 acts as a resistance for the next cup above when the cups are stacked.

[0033] The bottom 24 of the cup is seated in the body 22 in an illustrated manner. A segment 26 of the bottom edge 29 of the cup wall is folded inwards upwards to grip the annular downwardly extending section 28 of the rim 28 of the bottom 24 of the cup.

[0034] The cup body 22 also has an annular upper projection 32 formed outside its lateral conical, truncated wall 29 at a distance of 5 mm or greater down from the outer curl 34 that forms the upper edge of the body. Between projection 32 and curl 34 there is an upper wall section 38 (see also Fig. 5), made with a lower part 39 located at the edge 41 of the projection, this part serving as the connecting place or connecting area 1 or 2 to which the annular inner surface of the shell 14 is attached, as discussed below.

[0035] The outer shell 14, like the cup wall 29, has the shape of a truncated cone. The shell 14 is formed of cardboard that has an inner shell 42 of thermospective plastic material. The inner coating may occur over the entire surface or only in the connecting area or place along the respective contact path (see also Fig. 7) of the shell 14. The shell 14 has an internal curl 44, see Fig. 3, formed at its lower edge, and this inner curl cooperates with the outer surface 4 of the cup body wall 29 above the bottom end of the cup 12 at a distance approximately corresponding to the height of the bottom of the cup 24.

[0036] The annular upper edge 9 or 51, also see Fig. 5, the shell 14 is immediately adjacent to the curl 34 of the cup body 22 can touch it from below. Crust 14 extends downward from this point to a narrow annular surface,

EP 1 712 490 where it cooperates at least partially with the upper wall section 37 and the annular outer surface 38 slightly above the lower edge 41 of the projection 32.

[0037] The thermo-seal plastic coating 42 inside the shell 14 is fused locally before the cup 12 and the shell 14 are folded together. After they are assembled, the shell 14 is thermally bonded in one or more connecting places or connecting areas 1, 2 shown on the example in Fig. 6 as a local weld 52, where it is connected to the projection 32 of the cup body or to the annular outer surface 38 adjacent to its lower edge 42, i.e. at a distance of about 5 mm from curl 34. Although the use of three local welds 52 spaced at regular intervals in a ring is described, their number can be only one, there can be more than three, and if their number exceeds one be arranged irregularly.

[0038] It is also possible to arrange a series of such connecting places or connecting areas one above the other in the vertical direction 7, see Fig. 3, or side by side in the horizontal direction 6, or in the circumferential direction 8, see Fig. 2.

[0039] With reference to Figs. 4 to 8, the container 10 is manufactured according to the invention in the following steps:

- the shell 14 is made of cardboard, which is selectively coated from the inside with a thermo-weldable plastic material such as polyethylene, by forming a truncated cone around the mandrel,

- then the shell is removed from the mandrel and embedded inside the appropriately shaped receiver or receiving member 20, see Fig. 4. The receiving member 20 includes a frusto-conical portion 21, see Fig. 5, which is in contact with the outer surface of the wall 16 shell. At the upper end of the peripheral part 21, the receiving member 20 has an outwardly projecting upper flange 23.

[0040] In the next step, a breast shadow heating element is placed on the inside of the shell 14 and the polyethylene coating strips are heated to the melting point, see Fig. 6.

[0041] The previously assembled cup 12 is then drawn in by means of suction into the shell until its annular outer periphery of the upper projection 32 does not settle in the molten strip along the respective contact path 3, see also Fig. 7.

[0042] Next, the circular disk 17, as the first member of the respective device 11 for producing the respective container 10, is placed inside the cup body 22 so that it closely adheres to the inner surface of the cup body above the upper projection 32, for example see Figs. 6 to 8 .

[0043] Next, the circular ring 18, as the second member of the respective device 11, comprising three radially extending mandrels as biasing members 19, is placed around the shell 14 at the level of the molten strip, and the mandrels are extended to press the walls of the shell and the cup together, e.g. see Fig. 6 until they are joined together, for example, in three local welds 53, or connecting locations 1, or connecting areas 2, respectively. Such welds are hereinafter referred to as local welds, see also figures 7 and 8.

[0044] Then the disc and the ring are removed and the folded container is removed from the receiving member 20.

[0045] According to Fig. 6, it is not necessary for the upper wall section 37 to contact the entire upper end wall section 16 of the shell, and it is possible to provide a small gap between them just below the outer curl 34. Suitable connecting places or connecting areas can only be produced along the contact path 3, see Fig. 7, which is, for example, adjacent the upper annular projection 32 by pressing the first member 17 and the second member 18 together, see Figures 6 and 7.

[0046] In Fig. 8 and also in Fig. 7 is shown an annular second member 18 with pins 19, which is positioned between the upper surface of the upper flange 23 of the receiving member 20 and the lower end of the outer curl 34, see Fig. 6.

[0047] It is also shown in Fig. 7 that the respective mandrels, as biasing members 19, are evenly distributed around the container 10 in the circumferential direction 8, and that three connecting places or connecting areas are created.

[0048] With reference to Figures 10 to 12, a container 10 with the features of the second embodiment has been shown at various stages of assembly. The container 10 has an identical construction to the container previously described, except for one feature. The container cup 12 is identical to the cup described previously, but the shell 14 has a short one

EP 1 712 490 a cylindrical section 50 formed at its upper end. This cylindrical section 50 of the shell 14 adheres exactly to the outer surface 38 of the upper wall section 37, see also previous figures. Cup 12 and shell 14 are joined together in one or more locations 53, constituting connecting places 1 or connecting areas 2 corresponding to those on cup 10, i.e. around projection 32, immediately adjacent to its lower edge 41. Although the cylindrical section 50 adheres to the cup 12 above the projection 32, it should be understood that section 50 is not connected to the cup body above the ring of connecting places 53, and that the respective connecting places or local welds 53 are mutually separated from each other by the free connection parts of the respective path pin 3.

[0049] Also, the receiving member 20 of the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it has an integrally formed second member 18, which is formed by a counterpressing extension 25 extending vertically from the upper surface of the upper flange 23 of the receiving member 20. Upper end 27 of the extension 25 contacts the bottom of the fold 34.

[0050] A cup 10 is made according to the present invention in the following steps:

the shell is made of cardboard internally selectively coated with a thermospayable plastic material, such as polyethylene, by forming a truncated cone around the mandrel having an upper cylindrical circular section, the shell 14 is then removed from the mandrel and embedded within the appropriately shaped receiving member 20, see FIG. 10, the annular heating element is placed from the inside of the shell 14 and the polyethylene coating strip is heated to the melting point, the pre-assembled cup body 22 is drawn in by suction into the shell 14 until the annular circumference of the cup body protrusion 31 rests on the molten strip on the shell, see Fig. 11, the circular ring constituting the first member 17, see Fig. 12, including, for example, three radially extendable mandrels as biasing members 19, is then placed inside the cup body 22 at the level of the molten strip and the mandrels are extended to press the shell and cup walls together through their

EP 1 712 490 pressing against the outer receiving member 20, and in particular against the anti-pressure extension 25 until they are connected to each other, for example, in three places or local welds 53, see Fig. 12,

- the breast shadow 17 is then removed and the container 10 is removed from the receiving member 20.

[0051] Each of the container embodiments described herein is characterized in that it has a thermospayable coating inside its shell 14, connected to the outer surface of the cup 12 by heat and pressure in many local welds 53, which may be connecting places 1 or connecting areas 2 Suitable local welds extend around and between these components. These local welds are located on the annular path, see contact path 3, adjacent to the lower edge of the upper wall section 37 of the cup body or the upper cylindrical section 50 of the shell 14. Each of the container designs can also be made by providing a thermo-weld plastic connecting material applied locally to the outside of the cup body in its upper wall section 37, without departing from the present invention. In this case, of course, the connecting material will be heated from the outside of the cup before inserting it into the shell.

Proxy:

Ewa Grenda, patent attorney

EP 1 712 490