The invention relates to a can, in particular a beverage can. The invention also relates to a can body, comprising a sidewall and a bottom wall connected to said sidewall, for use in a can according to the invention. The invention further relates to a method for producing a can, in particular a beverage can, according to the invention.

Beverage cans, aluminium beverage cans in particular, represent problematic waste. Their disposal as well as possibilities of waste separation and possible recycling are usually problematic. If these cans are put into waste after use without pressing, their large volume decreases economy of waste collection as well as economical efficiency of eventual disposal or recycling. It is known to crush beverage cans prior to disposal in order to reduce their waste volume. To this end, use can be made by so-called can crushers. The prior art discloses a vast number of different approaches to crushing aluminium cans ranging from hand crushers for use by the consumer in the home or business to very large industrial crushers for use in recycling yards which handle millions of cans in any given month. However, in practice these mechanical can crushers are quite expensive and often hard to obtain for both consumers and companies as a result of which, the cans are put into waste uncrushed, which leads to an undesired situation. Since the number of beverage cans sold is continuously increasing, there is an increasing need to an improved manner to reduce the waste volume of these cans without needing mechanical can crushers.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved can, in particular beverage can,

To this end, the invention provides a can according to the preamble, comprising: a bottom wall, a lid, which lid comprises at least one initially closed discharge opening, and a substantially cylindrical sidewall, located in between and connected to the bottom part and the lid, wherein the sidewall comprises an upper section and a lower section, wherein the upper section is located closer to the lid than the lower section, and wherein: the upper section comprises at least one recess and/or at least one laterally protruding bulge configured to co-act with a gripping means during production of the beverage can, and the lower section comprises a plurality of circumferential grooves, wherein each groove is defined by at least one upper groove segment and at least one lower groove segment, which segments are mutually hingeably connected to each other via at least one inner fold line, such that the lower section is axially compressible.

Application of the improved can according to the invention allows users, often consumers, to manually crush emptied cans in an easy, user-friendly, and efficient manner to reduce their waste volume, which renders the use of mechanical can crushers no longer necessary. To this end, the sidewall of the can is provided, at least in a lower section, with a weakened zone or weakened area which facilitates axial compression of the sidewall, and hence of the can as such. Due to the application of deformable, in particular hingeable, circumferential grooves in the sidewall, which in fact forms a harmonica-like folding structure, also referred to as angulated folding structure, axial compression (crushing) of the can be realised very easily by a user without needing considerable muscular power. A further advantage of the (angulated) harmonica-like folding structure applied in (the lower section of) the sidewall of the can, is that the sidewall can also be bent relatively easily, for example by pushing merely a

circumferential part (portion) of the sidewall in a downward direction towards the bottom element, as a result of which the lid will become easily hingeable with respect to the bottom element. Commonly, the harmonica-like folding structure will merely fold and not tear during (initial) axial compression, which will prevent injury of persons and leakage of content from the can during axial compression. Specifically in case the can is formed by a beverage can, and the discharge opening is positioned eccentrically in the lid, this allows a user, during use and after having opened the discharge opening, to bent the sidewall in such a way, that the discharge opening will become positioned at greater distance from the bottom element than another (opposite) portion of the lid, simply by pushing said other portion of the lid in downward direction toward the bottom element. By positioning the opened discharge opening more or less on top, or at least at a relatively high level with respect to the bottom element, a convex portion of the sidewall is created extending between the discharge opening and the bottom element, which allows releasing the beverage from the beverage can, in particular direct drinking beverage from the beverage can, in a relatively smooth and user-friendly manner, since the user barely has to bend (incline) his neck to empty the can. Although the weakened sidewall has several advantages, a flipside of this weakened sidewall is that this renders the production process of the can more difficult. For example, during filling of the can and during mounting of the lid onto (an upper rim of) the sidewall considerable downward forces onto the sidewall are applied, which could easily lead to deformation and hence damaging of the sidewall during production. To prevent damaging of the weakened sidewall during the production process, in an upper section of the sidewall, relatively close to the upper rim of the sidewall, a retaining element, such as a recess and/or bulge, is applied being configured to co-act with mechanical gripping means of a production line during the production process, in order to stabilize and relief the (weakest part of the) sidewall, and in particular the lower section of the sidewall. Vertical forces applied onto sidewall during production of the can, for example during filling of the (lidless (open-top)) can and/or during mounting of the lid, will be absorbed, preferably substantially completely, by said at least one recess and/or said at least one bulge (or any other suitable retaining element). Commonly, the application of one or more recesses is preferred over the application of one or more bulges, since the application of one or more recess does not affect the outer

dimensioning of the can, as a result of which, the can according to the invention can be provided with a substantially identical outer volume compared to traditional (beverage) cans, which is favourable from an economic and logistic point of view. In case one or more recesses are applied in the upper section of the sidewall, preferably at least one recess of the upper section of the sidewall is formed by a circumferential gripping groove. Application of said gripping groove is favourable, since allows the sidewall to be gripped in any orientation of the sidewall during the production process, and hence this no longer requires a specific orientation of the sidewall during production, which facilitates the production process enormously. Preferably, at least one recess of the upper section of the sidewall is defined by a substantially curved part of the upper section of the sidewall. The curved part (curved surface) may act as guiding (alignment) surface to align the mechanical gripping means with respect to the recess. It is conceivable, and commonly favourable, in case at least one recess of the upper section of the side wall is formed to accommodate a finger part of a person. This will allow a user to engage (grip) the can in a more stable manner, which will prevent unintentional slipping of the can out of the user's hand. To this end, it is beneficial in case the height of at least one recess of the upper section of the side wall is at least 1.5 centimetre, preferably at least 2.0 centimetre.

In case one or more laterally protruding bulges are applied in the upper section of the sidewall, then it is preferred that at least one bulge of the upper section is defined by a substantially curved part of the upper section of the sidewall. This will also allow a facilitated alignment of the mechanical gripping means during can production, and is moreover more user-friendly during use, due to the absence of sharp engagement edges.

Preferably, at least one recess and/or said at least one bulge is applied in a substantially vertical part of (the upper section of) the sidewall. Such an orientation will commonly facilitate and enhance stable mechanical gripping during the producing process of the can according to the invention. Commonly the upper section of the sidewall is located directly below the necked upper rim of the sidewall. The lower section is preferably located directly below the upper section of the sidewall and preferably extends to the bottom wall. The height of the upper section and the height of the lower section of the sidewall can be substantially identical. However, it is commonly preferred that the height of the upper section is (considerably) smaller than the height of the lower section of the sidewall. The height of the upper section of the sidewall should be sufficient to apply the one or more recesses and/or one or more bulges. The height of the lower section of the sidewall is preferably as large as practically possible.

Commonly, an upper rim of the sidewall is bent inwards, which leads to a narrowed (tapered) neck to accommodate a smaller lid, which leads inter alia to material savings. Hence, the sidewall preferably comprises a tapered neck portion of the sidewall, wherein the upper section of the sidewall is located directly below said tapered neck portion. The upper rim of the tapered neck portion is typically configured to mount the lid. 21. Due to the tapered (converging) design of the tapered neck, the diameter of the upper rim of the neck portion is commonly smaller than the maximum diameter of the sidewall of the can. During the so-called necking process the can is loaded on to a lifter and the axial movement of the lifter presses the open edge into the outer tool, as a consequence of which the upper rim of the sidewall will be bent inwards and the diameter substantially cylindrically reduced by typically approximately 1 mm.

Preferably, said at least one recess and/or said at least one bulge is positioned at a distance from said bent upper rim of the side wall. As said above, this will commonly facilitate and enhance stable mechanical gripping during the producing process of the can according to the invention. The tapered neck portion is commonly also configured to stay intact during filling of the can and during mounting of the lid onto the upper rim of the neck portion. This means that the tapered neck portion will not (permanently) deform and/or damage during production of the can. Commonly the tapered design does not only lead to material savings, but will also reinforce the neck portion, such that the neck portion will withstand (vertical) forces exerted during production upon said neck portion.

In a preferred embodiment, the at least one recess and/or at least one bulge of the upper section of the sidewall is positioned at a distance from the circumferential grooves of the lower section of the sidewall. By generating a distance between the recess and/or bulge on the one side and the circumferential (folding) grooves at the other side, accidental deformation of the circumferential (folding) grooves, and hence damaging of the sidewall, can be counteracted during the production process.

At least one groove segment of at least one circumferential groove applied in a lower section of the sidewall of the can according to the invention, is preferably hingeably connected to an outer fold line. By bordering at least one groove segment, and preferably all groove segments, by an inner fold line and an outer fold line, the resistance felt by the user during deformation can be decreased, which leads to an improved (predefined) deformability of the sidewall. Here, it is preferable that multiple circumferential grooves are positioned adjacent to each other, wherein at least two adjacent circumferential grooves are connected via a joint outer fold line. By stacking the grooves on top of each other an angulated structure (harmonica-like structure) can be realised. Commonly, at least two circumferential grooves have a mutually substantially parallel orientation. This stacking of circumferential grooves in the lower section of the sidewall leads to the situation that the complete lower section can be compressed easily, which will result in an increased overall compression (crushing) of the can after use, which is favour of the reduction of the waste volume of the can.

The upper groove segments and/or the lower groove segments preferably have an initially substantially flat geometry. A flat geometry is commonly relatively rigid and stiff, and will commonly force the circumferential grooves to deform at the predefined folding lines (folding edges). This will commonly lead to a more controlled axial compression by the user after emptying of the can. Moreover, the application of relatively flat groove segments is commonly easier to produce than e.g. curved groove segments. Preferably, an upper groove segment and a lower groove segment of a circumferential groove mutually enclose an angle situated between 60 and 120 degrees, preferably between 75 and 105 degrees, more preferably (about) 90 degrees. Here, at least one upper groove segment and at least one lower groove segment of at least one circumferential groove preferably have a substantially identical dimensioning. This will lead to symmetrically shaped grooves, which are configured to deform such that the upper groove segment can be pushed against a neighbouring lower groove segment, without leading to protruding groove segment parts. Preferably the height of each groove does not exceed 5 mm in order to prevent the user to get seriously pinched during compression.

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The lid is preferably mounted on an upper rim of the side wall, preferably by means of a crimping or flanging operation. Here, commonly an upper flange formed when the sidewall was given its neck is then bent around the lid to realised a seamed and sealed connection.

The lid commonly comprises at least one score line adapted to be torn to form a discharge opening in the lid. Commonly, the discharge opening is positioned

eccentrically in the lid. A pull tab may be connected to the lid to facilitate the creation of the discharge opening.

Commonly, the sidewall and the bottom wall are mutually integrated, together forming a can body. Preferably the side wall and bottom wall are formed out of the same piece of material. The bottom wall is often at least partially dome-shaped in order to resist internal pressure, which is commonly used in case the can is filled with a carbonated beverage. The can is commonly at least partially made of metal, in particular aluminium. Often for the can body use is made of an aluminium alloy further comprising by weight 1% magnesium, 1% manganese, 0.4% iron, 0.2% silicon and 0.15 percent copper. The lid is commonly made of another aluminium alloy further comprising by weight 1% magnesium, 1% manganese, 0.4% iron, 0.2% silicon, and 0.15% copper. Of course alternative compositions and materials, or combinations thereof, may be applied to manufacture the can according to the invention. Examples of alternative materials are plastic and paper. It is imaginable that the sidewall is provided with at least two printed labels, wherein at least a part of a first label is printed onto the upper groove segments, and at least a part of a second label is printed onto the lower groove segments. In this way the different labels can be visualised dependent on the viewing angle of the user. This makes it possible to display more information than can be realised with traditional cans.

The invention also relates to a can body for use in a can according to the invention, comprising a sidewall and a bottom wall connected to said side wall, wherein the sidewall and the bottom wall are preferably mutually integrated.

The invention further relates to a method for producing a can, in particular a beverage can, according to the invention, comprising the steps: A) providing a can body comprising a substantially cylindrical sidewall and a bottom wall connected to said sidewall, said sidewall comprising an upper section and a lower section, wherein the upper section is located closer to the lid than the lower section, and wherein: the upper section comprises at least one recess and/or at least one laterally protruding bulge configured to co-act with a gripping means during production of the beverage can, and the lower section comprises a plurality of circumferential grooves, wherein each groove is defined by at least one upper groove segment and at least one lower groove segment, which segments are mutually hingeably connected to each other via at least one inner fold line, such that the lower section is axially compressible; B) mechanically gripping the can body by positioning mechanical gripping means in said at least one recess of the upper section of the sidewall, C) filling the can body with content, in particular beverage, D) mounting a lid onto an upper rim of the sidewall, wherein the can is formed, and E) releasing the gripping means from the can. The gripping means may for example by formed by two carrying rods and/or a carrying fork. Advantages and embodiments of the method according to the invention have already been described above in a comprehensive manner. The invention will be elucidated on the basis of the non-limitative exemplary embodiments shown in the following figures. Herein:

figure 1 shows a perspective view of a can according to the invention in an initially closed state, figure 2 shows a perspective view of the can as shown in figure 1, wherein a lower section of the can is axially deformed,

figure 3 shows a perspective view of the can as shown in figures 1-2, wherein the can is axially compressed, and

figures 4a and 4b show a cross-section of a can body of the can as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a beverage can 1 at least partially filled with a (carbonated) beverage. The can 1 comprises a dome-shaped bottom wall 2, a lid 3 which comprises a discharge opening 4, which is initially closed (as shown), and a substantially cylindrical sidewall 5, located in between and connected to the bottom wall 2 and the lid 3. The sidewall 5 comprises an upper section 6 and a lower section 7, wherein the upper section 6 is located closer to the lid 3 than the lower section 7. The upper section 6 comprises at least one recess 20 configured to co-act with a mechanical gripping means during production of the beverage can 1. The lower section 7 comprises a plurality of circumferential grooves 8, wherein each groove 8 is defined by at least one upper groove segment 9 and at least one lower groove segment 10, which segments 9, 10 are mutually hingeably connected to each other via at least one inner fold line 11, such that the lower section 7 of the sidewall 5 becomes axially compressible. The recess 20 of the upper section 6 is shaped in such a way that it allows a user to engage or grip the sidewall 5 of the can 1 in a relatively stable manner. The grooves 8 are positioned adjacently to each other, and are in fact stacked on top of each other, as a result of which the practically complete lower section is provided with deformable grooves 8, which facilitates axial compression by a user and increases the extent of the axial deformation which easily be realised by the user. As shown in figure 1, the recess 20 is positioned above and at a distance from the grooves 8 to prevent accidental deformation of the grooves 8 during the producing process. An upper rim 21 of the sidewall 5, located above the upper section 6, is narrowed and forms a tapered neck portion 21 of the can 1. Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the can 1 as also shown in figure 1, wherein the discharge opening 4 has been opened, and wherein the sidewall 5 is position-selectively deformed by deformation of the grooves 8 applied in the sidewall 5, such that the mutual of orientation of the lid 3 and the bottom wall 2 has been changed. In the shown state, the lid 3 is in fact hinged or tilted with respect to the bottom wall 2 as a result of a bending of the sidewall 5, commonly realised by the user by pushing a side of the lid 3, in this case a side of the lid opposite to the discharge opening 4, in a downward direction towards the bottom wall 2. The result of this deformation is that merely a part of the sidewall 5 will be compressed and concave, while an opposite part of the sidewall 5 will not be compressed, and will even become stretched and convex. Since the stretched part of the sidewall 5 extends between the bottom wall 2 and a part of the lid 3 where the discharge opening 4 is located, the discharge opening 4 will become positioned at a higher level than an opposite part of the lid 3 with respect to the bottom wall 2, which facilitates (substantially complete) emptying the can 1 by the user, in particular since this will require less inclination of the user's neck. In order to open the discharge opening 4, the lid 3 is provided with a pull tab 22, preferably connected by means of a rivet to the lid 3. In the deformed state as shown in figure 2, the

circumferential recess 20 is (practically) not deformed and stays in tact, commonly because the deformability (and flexibility) of the grooves 8 is significantly greater than the deformability (and flexibility) of the recess 20, prima facie due to the absence of inner folding lines in the upper section 6 of the sidewall 5.

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the can 1 as shown in figures 1 and 2, though wherein the can 1 is axially compressed by the user after emptying. In the shown compressed state, a plane defined by the lid 3 and a plane defined by (a bottom part of) the bottom wall 2 are oriented in a substantially parallel manner. Compared to the initial state, shown in figure 1, the distance between the lid 3 and the bottom wall 2 is significantly decreased, leading to a significantly decreased outer volume of the can 1, and hence to a considerable reduction of the waste volume, which is advantageous from a practical and economical point of view, which, moreover, provides a relatively environmental-friendly solution during further processing of the disposed can 1.

Figure 4a show a cross-section of a can body 23 of the can 1 as shown in the previous figures. The can body 23 is an open-top can body 23. The can body 23 comprises the sidewall 5 and the bottom wall 2 integrally connected thereto, as to form a single piece. The can body 23 can be marketed separately. During the production process of the can 1, the can body 23 is mechanically gripped by means of mechanical gripping means (not shown), co-acting with the recess 20 applied in the upper section 6 of the sidewall 5, after which the can body 23 is filled with beverage and wherein, subsequently, the lid 3 is mounted on top of the upper rim 21 of the sidewall 5. Commonly, the lid 3 is secured with respect to the sidewall 5 by means of flanging. Figure 4b shows a detailed view of a part of the lower section 7 of the sidewall 5 of the can body 23. In this figure 4b, it is particularly shown that the lower section 7 comprises a plurality of circumferential grooves 8, wherein each groove 8 is defined by at least one upper groove segment 9 and at least one lower groove segment 10, which segments are mutually hingeably connected to each other via at least one inner fold line 11. The circumferential grooves 8 are ring shaped (annular). The grooves 8 have a mutually substantially parallel (and horizontal) orientation. Each groove segment 9, 10 of each circumferential groove 8 is hingeably connected to an outer fold line 12. In the presented embodiment multiple circumferential grooves 8 are positioned adjacent to each other (on top of each other), wherein two adjacent circumferential grooves 8 are efficiently connected via a joint outer fold line 12. The upper groove segment 9 and the lower groove segment 10 of each circumferential groove 8 mutually enclose an angle a at the inner fold line 11, which angle a equals 90°, or a value situated between 85° and 95°. The upper groove segment 9 and the lower groove segment 10 have a substantially identical dimensioning and geometry in this example; the length of the upper groove segment li is substantially equals identical to the length of the lower groove section . Here, li and h are about

I, 95 mm, which leads to a groove height of about 2,75 mm. The angle β enclosed by the outer fold line 12 equals 90°, or a value situated between 85° and 95° in this example.

The can 1 comprises 28 grooves 8 stacked on top of each other, which leads to an overall groove height of 7,7 cm. Compared to the overall height of the can 1, which is

I I, 5 cm in this example, about 67% of the can height is provided with grooves 8. In this example, the height of the upper section 6 is 1,5 cm, which equals to about 13% of the total can height. The remaining 20% of the total can height is used to shape the neck portion 21 and the bottom wall 2. Preferably, the height of the lower section of the sidewall 5 is between 50 and 75% of the total can height. Preferably, the height of the upper section of the sidewall 5 is between 10 and 25% of the total can height. It will be apparent that the invention is not limited to the working examples shown and described herein, but that numerous variants are possible within the scope of the attached claims that will be obvious to a person skilled in the art. The above-described inventive concepts are illustrated by several illustrative embodiments. It is conceivable that individual inventive concepts may be applied without, in so doing, also applying other details of the described example. It is not necessary to elaborate on examples of all conceivable combinations of the above- described inventive concepts, as a person skilled in the art will understand numerous inventive concepts can be (re)combined in order to arrive at a specific application.

The verb "comprise" and conjugations thereof used in this patent publication are understood to mean not only "comprise", but are also understood to mean the phrases "contain", "substantially consist of, "formed by" and conjugations thereof.