FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to blow molded articles with effect pigments showing high gloss, low haze and high resistance to delamination. The invention relates also to preforms for making such articles and to methods for making these preforms and articles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blow molded articles made of thermoplastic materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and obtained from stretch blow molding of an injected preform (Injection stretch blow molded articles, also called ISBM articles) are popularly used in various industries, including the cosmetic, laundry, and food industries. In particular, containers for such fields and in particular bottles for liquid products are made in this way. For such articles, having a glossy and pearlescent and/or metallic appearance is particularly desirable as it is appealing to users and tends to connote a premium product.

In order to obtain such appearance so called "effect pigments" have been developed and are used in the art. The materials marketed as "effect pigments" are pigments that give additional color effects such as angular color dependence (iridescence, color travel, luster) or texture when applied in an application medium. These pigments are predominantly composed of particles having a platelet like shape which tend to orient in a direction parallel to the surface to which they are applied. The optical effects of these pigment (which are described in the art as luster, pearlescence, iridescence, metallic effect) arises from reflection of incident light from the smooth surface of the pigment platelets. For example, JP 2004-18629 by Fujitsu Limited discloses use of particles such as pearlescent mica, aluminium oxide, silicon dioxide and glass fibers mixed with thermoplastic materials to make a pearlescent container. The pearlescent effect of such a container is achieved by interference caused by the added particles as light passes through the article. Effect pigments work well when applied onto a solid surface because their platelet like particles spontaneously orient in a direction parallel to the surface on which they are applied. However the introduction of effect pigments in large scale blow molding operations has been found to be more problematic and in fact effect pigments do not find a broad industrial application in this field, especially when considering containers for liquid products which need to be mass produced quickly and at a low cost.

Effect pigments can be applied on blow molded articles using standard coating application techniques such as painting or printing, however this add complexity, costs and additional problems such as need for lacquering which are not sustainable in the mass production of blow molded articles. One relevant issue in in the introduction of effect pigments within a blow molding manufacturing process is that the pigment particles remain dispersed within the wall of the article in a largely random orientation so that their effect is reduced.

An additional problem (partially connected to the poor orientation of the particles in a blow molded article) is that blow molded articles comprising effect pigments have been found to have poor gloss and high haze. Without being bound by theory it is believed this is due to the unevenness of the external surface of the articles when effect pigments are present possibly due to the random orientation of the platelet particles which in part will be exposed at the surface of the article in all orientations.

The document WO2014/022990 A 1 presents a possible solution to the problem of poor gloss by suggesting to produce a preform and resultant container wherein an inner layer comprises a pearlescent agent and an outer layer is transparent and comprises a colorant. The preforms of WO2014/022990 A 1 are manufactured with two-steps methods i.e. method where the materials making up the various layers are introduced in sequence. Suggested process are co- molding/overmolding i.e. a process where the various layers are molded one over the other in subsequent steps and two step coinjection wherein the material of an outer layer is injected first into the mold cavity and is subsequently followed by the material of an inner layer. We have observed that in certain cases such construction method leads to poor mechanical resistance of the finished article so that the layers may separate during use (delamination).

Thus, there is still a need to find a better way to provide visual benefits to an article produced via blow molding while keeping the process simple, cost effective and scalable to mass manufacture and wherein the resulting article is resistant to delamination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a blow molded article having a hollow body defined by a wall wherein the wall has an inside surface and an outside surface, the wall being formed in at least one region by 3 layers, a layer A including the outside surface of the wall in that region, a layer B including the inside surface of the wall in that region and a layer C sandwiched between layers A and B, the three layers A, B and C together making up the entire wall of the article in that region, said article being obtained by blow molding of a preform made via parallel flow coinjection of 2 or more streams and wherein one or more streams make up layers A and B and the remaining streams make up layer C, wherein layer A is transparent and layer C comprises an effect pigment visible through layer A.

The present invention also relates to a preform which can be blow molded to obtain such an article and methods of making these article and preform.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 (a-c) represents schematically a number of different arrangements for the injection nozzles in a parallel co-injeciton equipment.

Fig. 2 represents schematically a bottle according to the invention showing in a section thereof the layers A, B and C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Definitions

"Article", as used herein refers to an individual blow molded hollow object for consumer usage, e.g. a container suitable for containing compositions. Preferably the article is a container, non- limiting examples of which include a bottle, a bottle, a jar, a cup, a cap, and the like. Preferably it is a bottle. In the case of containers, the layer A includes the outside surface of the container and the layer B includes the inside surface of the container. The term "container" is used to broadly include elements of a container, such as a closure or dispenser of a container. The compositions contained in such a container may be any of a variety of compositions including, but not limited to, detergents (e.g., laundry detergent, fabric softener, dish care, skin and hair care), beverages, powders, paper (e.g., tissues, wipes), beauty care compositions (e.g., cosmetics, lotions), medicinal, oral care (e.g., tooth paste, mouth wash), and the like. The container may be used to store, transport, or dispense compositions contained therein. Non-limiting volumes containable within the container are from 10 ml, 100 ml, 500 ml or 1000 ml to 1500 ml, 2000 ml or 4000 ml.

"Blow molding" refers to a manufacturing process by which hollow cavity-containing plastic articles are formed, preferably suitable for containing compositions. The blow molding process typically begins with melting or at least partially melting or heat- softening (plasticating) the thermoplastic and forming it into a parison (when using Extrusion Blow Molding) or preform (when using injection blow molding or injection stretch blow molding), where said parison or preform can be formed by a molding or shaping step such as by extrusion through a die head or injection molding. The parison or preform is a tube-like piece of plastic with a hole in one end through which compressed gas can pass. The parison or perform is clamped into a mold and air is pumped into it, sometimes coupled with mechanical stretching of the parison or perform (known as "stretch blow-molding"). The parison or perform may be preheated before air is pumped into it. The pressure pushes the thermoplastic out to conform to the shape of the mold containing it. Once the plastic has cooled and stiffened, the mold is opened and the part ejected. In general, there are three main types of blow molding: extrusion blow molding (EBM), injection blow molding (IBM), and injection stretch blow molding (ISBM). The articles of the present invention are made via ISBM.

As used herein, the articles including "a" and "an" when used in a claim, are understood to mean one or more of what is claimed or described.

As used herein, the terms "comprise", "comprises", "comprising", "include", "includes", "including", "contain", "contains", and "containing" are meant to be non-limiting, i.e., other steps and other ingredients which do not affect the end of result can be added. The above terms encompass the terms "consisting of and "consisting essentially of.

All percentages are weight percentages based on the weight of the composition, unless otherwise specified. All ratios are weight ratios, unless specifically stated otherwise. All numeric ranges are inclusive of narrower ranges; delineated upper and lower range limits are interchangeable to create further ranges not explicitly delineated. The number of significant digits conveys neither limitation on the indicated amounts nor on the accuracy of the measurements. All measurements are understood to be made at about 25 °C and at ambient conditions, where "ambient conditions" means conditions under about one atmosphere pressure and at about 50% relative humidity.

The present invention pertains to the field of blow molded articles having a hollow body such as containers and bottles, made via a process of injection stretch blow molding (ISBM article).

As known to a skilled person, the ISBM process starts with a first step where a thermoplastic material, typically a thermoplastic resin, is melted and then injected into a preform mold, so to form a preform. When the preform is then released from the preform mold it can be immediately processed but more typically is cooled and stored and processed at a stretch blow molding station at a subsequent time and/or location. In a second step the preform is introduced into a stretch blow molding equipment where the preform is blow molded to its final shape via heating and stretching, typically using a core rod. In the ISBM process, differently than with other blow molding processes, the preform is reheated to a temperature warm enough to allow the preform to be inflated so that a biaxial molecular alignment in the sidewall of the resulting blow- molded container is achieved. With the preform held at the neck, air pressure, and usually a stretch rod, are used to stretch the preform in the axial direction, and optionally also in the radial direction. In the case of bottles the neck portion of the article can contain threads or flanges suitable for a closure and are typically unchanged with respect to the preform as the neck part is often not stretched. The articles obtained by injection stretch blow-molding can be significantly longer than the preform. More information on injection stretch blow-molding processes can be obtained from general textbooks, for example "The Wiley Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", Second Edition (1997), published by Wiley-Interscience Publication (in particular see pages 87-89).

Many variations are possible to these steps as known to the skilled person, for example in some less common case the preform is stretch blow molded within the same machine where the preform is made, but the two steps/two machines process is far more common.

Articles made using ISBM process (as well as their respective preforms made via injection molding) can be distinguished from similar articles made using different process e.g. extrusion blow molding, for the presence of a gate mark, i.e. a small raised dot which indicates the "gate" where the injection took place. Typically, in the case of container and bottles, the "gate mark" is present at the bottom of the article.

Articles and preforms according to the invention are typically made from Thermoplastic Materials, typically comprising thermoplastic resins.

An article of the present invention may comprise more than 50%wt., preferably more than 70%wt., more preferably more than 80%wt, even more preferably more than 90%wt. of a thermoplastic resin, selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polycyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate (PCT), glycol-modified PCT copolymer (PCTG), copolyester of cyclohexanedimethanol and terephthalic acid (PCTA), polybutylene terephthalate (PBCT), acrylonitrile styrene (AS), styrene butadiene copolymer (SBC), or a polyolefin, for example one of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLPDE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), propylene (PP) and a combination thereof. Preferably, the thermoplastic resin is selected from the group consisting of PET, PETG, PEN, PS, and a combination thereof. More preferably, the thermoplastic resin is PET.

Recycled thermoplastic materials may also be used, e.g., post-consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PCRPET); post- industrial recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PIRPET); regrind polyethylene terephthalate.

The thermoplastic materials described herein may be formed by using a combination of monomers derived from renewable resources and monomers derived from non-renewable (e.g., petroleum) resources. For example, the thermoplastic resin may comprise polymers made from bio-derived monomers in whole, or comprise polymers partly made from bio-derived monomers and partly made from petroleum-derived monomers.

The thermoplastic resin used herein could have relatively narrow weight distribution, e.g., metallocene PE polymerized by using metallocene catalysts. These materials can improve glossiness, and thus in the metallocene thermoplastic execution, the formed article has further improved glossiness. Metallocene thermoplastic materials can, however, be more expensive than commodity materials. Therefore, in an alternative embodiment, the article is substantially free of the expensive metallocene thermoplastic materials.

The blow molded articles of the present invention are multilayer articles in the sense that at least a region of the wall defining their hollow body comprises a layer A including the outside surface of the wall in that region, a layer B including the inside surface of the wall in that region and a layer C sandwiched between layers A and B, wherein the three layers together make up the entire wall of the article in that region. Preferably the multilayer region (i.e. the region comprising layers A, B and C) makes up a major portion of the article wall surface, preferably over 60%, more preferably over 80%, even more preferably more than 90% so that its benefits are extended over a larger portion of the article. In some case the multilayer region may extend to the entire article wall.

The thickness of the article wall in the region formed by 3 layers may be from 0.2 to 5mm. The relative thickness of the three layer can vary, however in some embodiments layer C may have a thickness which is between 5 and 40% of the total thickness of the article wall.

In the articles of the invention the layer A is transparent and the layer C comprises an effect pigment visible through the transparent layer A. The advantages of the invention are largely independent from the nature of layer B, however layer B may be made from the same material of layer A and therefore be transparent as layer A. "Effect pigments" are marketed as such by the major pigments suppliers such as Merck or BASF. In general "effect pigments" can be divided in 2 main classes, "metal effect pigments" and "special effect pigments". Metal effect pigments consist of only metallic particles. They create a metal-like luster by reflection of light at the surface of the metal platelets when having parallel alignment in their application system. Special effect pigments include all other platelet- like effect pigments which cannot be classified as "metal effect pigments". These are typically based on a substrate which has platelet shaped crystals (or particles) such as mica, (natural or synthetic) borosilicate glass, alumina flakes, silica flakes. These platelet shaped particles are typically coated with metal oxides. Preferred special effect pigments for the present invention are "pearlscent pigments" (also referred to as "pearl luster pigments"). Also suitable are "interference pigments". Interference pigments are defined as special effect pigments whose color is generated completely or predominantly by the phenomenon of interference of light.

The content of effect pigment is layer can be typically from 0,01 to 5% wt. of the total weight of layer C.

The term "layer" in the context of the present invention, referred to the layer A, B and C includes the possibility that each of the layers A, B and C are uniform or that they are made of two or more sub-layers. In case the A layer is made of two or more sub-layers the entire layer A will need to be transparent as required by the invention. In case the layer C is made of two or more layers it is sufficient that the sublayer facing and being in direct contact with layer A comprises effect pigments as required in order to satisfy the feature that layer C comprises an effect pigment visible through layer A. Additional sublayers of layer B or C may include for example gas barrier layers. A layer is considered as "transparent" in the context of the present invention if that layer has total luminous transmittance of 50% or more and reflected haze of less than 5 haze units. The total luminous transmittance is measured in accordance with ASTM D1003, the reflected haze is measured in accordance with ASTM E430. Multilayer articles according to the invention are obtained by blow molding a co-injected preform wherein the preform is obtained via parallel flow co-injection.

While a large part of the disclosure will be referred to the construction of the preform, it will be understood by the skilled person that any given structure, composition or sequence of layers in the preform will be reproduced in the finished blow molded article, it is in fact part of the common general knowledge that during the stretch blow molding operation the preform is stretched and thinned in all directions to form the finished article, and while the stretching may not be the same in all points so that the finished article may not have the same thickness all over its surface, the sequence and composition of the layers making up the wall of the preform and of the article will not be significantly altered.

Co-injection molding is a technology widely used in the production of preforms and its more common application is used to produce gas barrier bottles where a barrier layer is sandwiched between two plastic layers. Suppliers like Milacron, Husky and others offer co-injection molding equipment which can be used to manufacture multilayer preforms for the articles of the present invention. During co-injection the process can be controlled so that one layer forms the outside surface of the preform (and then of the article after the stretch blow molding step) while one or more layer are superimposed to the first layer toward the inner portion of the preform. These additional layers can be controlled so that they may extend over the entire article surface or only in portions of it. For example in the case of a plastic bottle the second and optionally subsequent layers may extend only along the body of the bottle and be absent in correspondence of the neck and/or the bottom of the bottle. Alternatively one stream of material can form at the same time the inner and outer layers of the preform (layers A and B) and one or more additional streams may form additional layers between the inner and outer layer.

As known from the art, co-injected preforms can be obtained with two different methods,

"step flow co-injection" and "parallel flow co-injection". In the step flow co-injection method (such as the method described in the cited patent application WO2014/022990) the thermoplastic resins intended to form the different layers of the preform are injected one after another. A similar process exists which is the so-called "overmolding" wherein one layer is molded on top or within a layer molded previously. On the contrary in the parallel flow co-injection method the thermoplastic resins intended to form the different layers of the preform are injected essentially at the same time. For the purpose of the present invention a co-injection method is intended to be "parallel flow" if the injection of all streams of thermoplastic material forming the preform starts within 5 seconds.

In the present invention it is essential that the preform for the blow molded articles is made using a parallel flow co-injection process. The applicant has surprisingly observed that containers obtained by blow molding a preform made parallel flow co-injection have both improved gloss, low haze and improved resistance to delamination with respect to container made via a step flow co-injection process.

As mentioned above in a parallel flow co-injection equipment the thermoplastic materials making up the preform are injected into a preform mold using injector nozzles, each nozzle deliver one stream of thermoplastic material. For the present invention is only essential that the streams are all initiated in parallel flow as defined herein.

The injectors can be arranged in a number of different ways thus allowing to manufacture preforms having different characteristics and different layouts of the multilayer region. For example a common injector arrangement useful in making preforms for the present invention is concentric nozzles, e.g. one where a nozzle delivering the thermoplastic material for layer C is disposed within a larger nozzle delivering the thermoplastic material for layers A and B (see Fig. la). In this design the thermoplastic material for layers A and B is typically the same so that one single resin flows within one nozzle and the material C forms a layer sandwiched between two layers of the A/B material.

Alternatively when layer C is formed by 2 or more sublayers, the thermoplastic material making up these sub layers can be delivered by a number of nozzles which are in turn concentric (see Fig. lb) or parallel (see Fig. l.c). These different arrangements allow to introduce additional functional sub-layers in C such as for example a gas barrier layer.

It has been found that, during the production of preforms for the present invention, a tight control of the temperatures is beneficial to the regularity of the layers. Temperature has in fact a significant impact on the viscosity of the thermoplastic material. In particular the material for layer C should be injected at a lower temperature than the material for layers A and B. A preferred temperature range for the material of layers A and B is between 290 and 305 °C measured at the point of injection. The material for layer C can be at a temperature in a range from 260 and 275°C. This lower temperature and higher viscosity guarantees a better and more uniform formation of the layers.

Another process parameter to control during the co-injection of the preforms is pressure of the streams of resin measure along the manifold line supplying the injection nozzle. The stream (or streams) containing the material for layers A and B is preferably kept in a range between 150 and 400 bar, while the lower temperature / higher viscosity stream of layer C is preferably kept in a range between 1000 and 1400 bars. In order to preserve transparency of the outside layer it is beneficial to quickly cool down the preform as soon as it is formed and the article after the stretch blow molding operation is performed. This is due to the fact that a prolonged exposure at temperatures close to the Tg of the resin can promote crystallization of the resin which in turn can be detrimental to transparency, quick cooling allows maintaining as much as possible an amorphous structure which has better transparency.

The present invention relates to co-injected preforms described as above as well as articles obtained by such preforms via simple stretch blow molding. The present invention also relates to methods of making the preforms and the articles of the invention.

In the present invention the layer C, comprising the effect pigments is visible through the transparent layer A from outside of the hollow article. The layer A can be colored or colorless but it is preferably free of pigments and/or of particles said pigments or particles having their largest dimension between 150nm and 5000nm (wherein essentially free means that layer A contains less than l%wt of pigments or particles having their largest dimension between 150nm and 5000nm). Layer A if desired can be colored using a soluble dye or a transparent pigment in the thermoplastic material which makes up the layer in order to obtain even more original effects. Pigments become transparent in a matrix when the difference between the refractive index of the pigment (which depends on wavelength) and that of the matrix is low, and when the particle size of the pigment is below that which Mie scattering occurs (typically a largest particle dimension of about 100 nm or less ).

The presence of a smooth transparent layer outside of the container allows the layer C comprising the effect pigments to be visible from outside and, at the same time provides the bottle with a high level of gloss. Without being bound by theory is also believed that the presence of a glossy surface at a distance from the opaque surface of layer C comprising the effect pigments, due to the two slightly shifted focal points provides the viewer with an effect of impression of depth which can contribute to a premium appearance of the article itself.

We mentioned earlier the problem of the orientation of effect pigments having a platelet like particle shape when forming the wall of a container made with ISBM. It has been surprisingly found that in articles according to the invention, the effect pigment particles in layer C are predominantly oriented so that their face is parallel to the surface of the article. Without being bound by theory we believe this may be due to a combination of factors including the fact that in monolayer articles the effect pigments are dispersed in the entire wall of the article which is thicker (at parity mechanical strength of the article) than the C layer sandwiched between layers A and B as in articles according to the invention. In monolayer articles the particles have more free space to rotate 360°while, in a multilayer article according to the invention, the layer C, where the effect pigments are confined, is much thinner as it only represents a portion of the total thickness of the article, so that the stretching steps provides for correct orientation of a larger percentage of platelet like pigment particles. It has further been found that the tendency for the platelet effect pigments to orient parallel to the surface of the article persist even when the article is irregularly shaped. As such, the shape of the article can be further used to modify the visual effects generated by the article from the point of view of a person viewing the article, depending on the orientation of the article when being viewed. For example, an article that is predominantly cylindrical should have visual effects conferred by the effect pigments that are relatively constant to the viewer, regardless of the orientation of the article relative to its primary axis. When the article is predominantly cylindrical, it can be rotated about its primary axis without substantially modifying the visual effects, because the article is radially symmetric about the primary axis, and the orientations of the effect pigments will be largely unchanged relative to the point-of-view of the viewer. Further, in a substantially cylindrical bottle, the effect pigment platelets are expected to be oriented substantially perpendicular to the viewer's line-of-sight near the center of the article, and increasingly angled away from the viewer towards the edges of the article as viewed by the viewer. As such, any optical effects that may rely on reflectance of incident light by the effect pigments would be directed towards the viewer near the center of the article, but directed away from the viewer at the edges of the article.

For example, visual effects such as gloss, reflectance, and the like may be more pronounced towards the center of the article as viewed, which may then interfere with other decoration and/or labelling of the article, which would be preferably incorporated near the center of the article. Alternately, where the article is substantially non-cylindrical, and heightened visual effects derived from an orientation of the platelet effect pigments, especially when combined with a Layer A having transparent color, may be made to occur anywhere on the article by incorporating concave and convex contours into the overall bottle shape. Such contours can be particularly important for optical effects that occur at one or more particular viewing angle(s) and/or one or more illumination angle(s).

Without being bound by theory, it is believed that the ray path of incident light into the article and returning to the observer can be affected by the article curvature such that the surface of the articles will receive glancing angles where the light ray will interact mainly with Layer A having transparent color, versus normal angles whereby the light ray will interact with both Layer A and Layer C at optimal orientation of effect pigment platelets. As such an article of the present invention, further comprising convex and concave portions, will create at least 3 distinct appearance regions visible to the observer without requiring rotation of the article and without requiring that the viewer change his/her point-of-view. These can be characterized as a high chroma region, which may be due to the ray path confined to the Layer A; a high lightness region, which may be due to optimal reflection off the effect pigment platelets; and a region having a combination of these optical responses (which would be more typical for cylindrical articles).

For example, it has been found that the present invention yields a relatively high chroma at a viewing angle of -15° when illuminated at 45° from the surface normal. The -15 ° angle is important as it is also the viewing-angle of highest reflectance, hence it may be preferred that the article be viewed from this point-of-view. Rather than require the article be viewed from a specific angle, the preferred optical effect can be achieved by including a multiplicity of viewing angles through the incorporation of convex and concave features in the overall shape of the article.

see experimental section below for Examples description.

In one aspect, the center of the article, as seen by the viewer, may be relatively flat, and free from such convex and concave features, to allow for a product label and/or other branding or product identification without interference, while the portions of the article that are disposed towards the periphery of the article as seen by the viewer may comprise more substantial contours such as ridges, valleys and the like. Such relatively flat portions as well as such valleys and ridges can be characterized by the radius of curvature of the surface of the article taken in cross-section. Said cross-section may be taken perpendicular to the primary axis of the article, or perpendicular relative to an axis perpendicular to the primary axis. Specifically, a relatively flat portion will have a relatively high radius of curvature and the peak of a ridge will have a relatively low radius of curvature. "Relatively high" and "relatively low" radii-of-curvature are taken to mean relative to the radius of curvature of a circle of equal perimeter to the cross-section of the article under consideration.

Where the contour is convex to the viewer (e.g. the curved portion protrudes out towards the viewer) the center of curvature would be away from the viewer versus the article surface, and where the contour is concave to the viewer (e.g. the curved portion protrudes away from the viewer) the center of curvature would be towards the viewer versus the article surface. By convention, the convex contour may be taken to have a positive radius of curvature, and the concave contour may be taken to have a negative radius of curvature.

A cylindrical article would have a constant radius of curvature when taken at the cross- section perpendicular to the primary axis. An un-curved or flat portion of the article would have an undefined radius of curvature. A preferred article is non-cylindrical.

An additional advantage of the hollow containers of the invention is that these containers have been surprisingly found to be more resistant to delamination. Delamination is a constant problem in the manufacturing blow molded multilayer hollow articles such as containers. Delamination can occur over time due to the mechanical handling of the container, to thermal stress or mechanical stress. It manifests typically as bubbles on the container surface but can also be at the origin of container failure. Without being bound by theory we believe that the parallel flow coinjection, due to a prolonged contact of the materials of the various layers still in melted or partially melted state, leads to the formation of a transition region between the layers wherein the layers are slightly interpenetrated. This region generates a good adhesion between the layers and thus makes it much more difficult to separate them. Surprisingly it has also been found that multilayer articles according to the invention have an improved resistance to delamination not only with respect to articles obtained by blow molding of preforms made using step flow coinjection or overmolding, but even with respect to articles obtained from monolayer preforms. In other words, the transition layer appears to further strengthen the article wall with respect to a monolayer execution. Delamination resistance is evaluated measuring the Critical Normal Load in the three layers region using the method described below in the test methods section. A higher Critical Normal Load indicates a higher delamination resistance. Articles according to the invention may have a Critical Normal Load of more than 50 N. Preferably the Critical Normal Load is 70-120N.

In a preferred execution layers A, B and C are based on the same type of thermoplastic resin (e.g. PET), this allows a better interpenetration of the layers at the interface due to their chemical compatibility and a more robust wall. For "based on the same type of resin" it is meant that layers A, B and C comprise at least 50%, preferably at least 70%, more preferably at least 90% of the same type of resin. For "same type" of resin it is intended resin from the same chemical class i.e. PET is considered a single chemical class. For example two different PET resins with different molecular weight are considered to be of the same type. One PET and one PP resin are NOT considered of the same type. Different polyesters are also not considered of the same type.

Layers A, B and C may be formed by the same thermoplastic resin (e.g. PET) and may be different only for the type of colorants and pigments included. Additional optional features

Articles according to the invention can comprise sub-layers with various functionalities. For example, a container may have a barrier material sub-layer or a recycled material sub-layer between an outer thermoplastic layer and an inner thermoplastic layer. Such layered containers can be made from multiple layer preforms according to common technologies used in the thermoplastic manufacturing field. Since barrier material sub-layers and recycled material sublayers can be used in layer A (when they do not impact transparency of the layer A), B or C. Preferably they will be present as sub-layers of layers B or C and will be positioned toward the inner part of the container further away from layer A than the sub-layer comprising effect pigment which should be visible through layer A.

The article of the present invention may comprise, in any of its layers as long as the required properties of the layer are maintained, additives typically in an amount of from 0.0001%, 0.001% or 0.01% to about 1%, 5% or 9%, by weight of the article. Non-limiting examples of the adjunct ingredient include titanium dioxide, filler, cure agent, anti-statics, lubricant, UV stabilizer, anti- oxidant, anti-block agent, catalyst stabilizer, colourants, nucleating agent, and a combination thereof.

In another aspect the present invention relates to a hollow preform which can be blow molded to make an article as described above. An hollow preform according to the invention is a preform for blow molding having a wall wherein the wall has an inside surface and an outside surface, the preform wall being formed in at least one region by 3 layers, a layer A' including the outside surface of the wall in that region, a layer B ' including the inside surface of the wall in that region and a layer C sandwiched between A' and Ε , wherein the three layers A', B' and C together make up the entire wall of the preform in that region, said preform being obtained by parallel coinjection of 2 or more streams and wherein one or more streams make up layer A' and B' and the remaining streams make up layer C\ wherein layer A' is transparent and layer C comprises an effect pigment visible through layer A'.

As apparent to a skilled person such a preform once blow molded will form an article according to the invention having layers A, B and C wherein the layers of the preform will form the corresponding layers of the article i.e. A' will form A, B' will form B and C will form C.

A person skilled in blow molding will know how to modify the compositions and structure of the preform so to achieve all the optional and preferred features of the articles of the invention described above.

The present invention also relates to a method for making a preform for blow molding

comprising the following steps:

a) providing a co-injection mold for making a preform

b) co-injecting at essentially the same time (parallel co-injection) two or more streams of molten resin thus forming a complete preform as described above, wherein one or more streams make up layer A' and B' and the remaining streams make up layer C\ wherein layer A' is transparent and layer C comprises an effect pigment visible through layer A'.

A preform obtained with this method can be subsequently blow molded, preferably stretch blow molded, so to obtain an article according to the invention.

In a further aspect the present invention relates to A blow molded article having a hollow body defined by a wall wherein the wall has an inside surface and an outside surface, the wall being formed in at least one region by 3 layers, a layer A including the outside surface of the wall in that region, a layer B including the inside surface of the wall in that region and a layer C sandwiched between layers A and B, the three layers A, B and C together making up the entire wall of the article in that region, wherein layer A is transparent and layer C comprises an effect pigment visible through layer A, and wherein said article in the region where layers A, B and C are present has has a Critical Normal Load, according to the method described herein, higher than 50 N. As explained above such an articles can be manufacture by blow molding a preform made with a parallel flow co-injection process.

Examples

Several bottles were prepared, Ex. 1-3 are according to the invention, Ex. 4-9 are comparative examples.

PET: Laser+ ^® C (E60A) available from DAK Americas LLC

Orange Masterbatch: E- 15796-2 Trans Orange Masterbatch (Clariant NE21760074)

White Pearl Satin Masterbatch: X- 14413-1 WHITE PEARL SATIN#2 (Clariant, NE02760182) Transparent gold masterbatch: E- 15962-3 GOLD TONER V3 (Clariant NEG1760080)

Transparent green masterbatch: E-15795-4 TRANS GREEN (ClariantNE61760150)

Opaque White (Clariant Masterbatches, NE03642542)

Opaque Black (Clariant Masterbatches, NE94760019)

Delamination performance:

Delamination resistance is evaluated measuring the Critical Normal Load in the three layers region using the method described below. A higher Critical Normal Load indicates a higher delamination resistance. The inventive examples 1 and 2 exhibit higher critical normal load to delaminate compared to Comparative Examples 9, monolayer of PET made with the same ISBM process, and 5 bilayer made by 2 shot overmolding. This shows how the inventive structure is more resistant to delamination of an overmolded multilayer bottle and also than a single layer bottle. This evidences the importance of the improved adhesion among layers layer present in the bottles made with parallel flow coinjection process.

Optical Performance

The data show how inventive example 3 has less surface roughness, higher specular reflectance, higher gloss, lower haze, and lower reflection softness than the comparative examples 7 and 8 which are monolayer bottles with identical PET resin and pigmentation.

Effect pigment transmittance

These data show how a bottle according to the invention is overall more opaque than a comparative monolayer bottle with the same pigments and thickness. The pearl layer is intended to be opaque and the level of opacity corresponds to the effectiveness of the amount of pigment used. In the inventive example the bottle is more opaque with the same amount of pigment. Without being bound by theory, we think this is the result of better orientation of the effect pigments (parallel to the plane of the article surface).

TEST METHODS

Method for Critical Normal Load (N) and Scratch Depth at Region of Failure Samples with dimensions of 100 mm in length and about 50 mm in width are cut out from the main portion of the article wall. When the article does not allow taking a sample this large shorter samples in scale 1:2 width:length may be used, smaller samples may lead to less precise measurement. The samples should be flat of possible or made flat by using a frame maiuntaining the sample flat at least in the region where the test scratch is done. For containers and bottles, the sample is preferably removed from the label panel of the bottle at least 50 mm away from shoulder/neck or base regions. The cutting is done with a suitable razor blade or utility knife such that a larger region is removed, then cut further down to suitable size with a new single edge razor blade. If the sample readily delaminates upon removal from the bottle, the sample is given a score of 0 N for the "Critical Normal Load". "Scratch Depth at Region of Failure" for such sample is measured as the thickness of the outer layer which has been delaminated. The thickness may be measured with a high accuracy digital micrometer such as a digital micrometer such as a Shinwa 79523 Digital Micrometer having an accuracy of +/- 0.003 mm. For samples which remain intact, they are subjected to scratch-induced damage using a Scratch 5 from Surface Machine Systems, LLC according to Scratch Test Procedures (ASTM D7027-13/ISO 19252:08) using a 1 mm diameter spherical tip, Initial Load: 1 N, End Load: 125 N, Scratch Rate: 10 mm/s, and Scratch Length of 100 mm. For samples smaller than 100 mm, the Scratch Length can be decreased while keeping the initial and end loads the same. This provides an estimate of the Critical Normal Load. Using this estimate, additional samples can be run over a more narrow load range to provide more accurate determination of the Critical Normal Load. Scratch-induced damage is performed on both sides of the sample corresponding to the inner and outer surface of the bottle. It is critical that the sample is affixed to the sample stage by the use of foam-based double sided tape such as Scotch® Permanent Mounting Tape by 3M (polyurethane double-sided high density foam tape with acrylic adhesive having a total thickness of about 62 mils or 1.6 mm, UPC #021200013393) on the underside of the sample. All samples are cleaned with compressed air before the scratch test. The Point of Failure is visually determined after completing the scratch test as the distance across the length of the scratch at which the onset of visible delamination occurs. Delamination introduces an air gap between layers which is visible to the naked eye or with assistance of a stereomicroscope by one skilled in the art. as. This is validated based on a minimum three scratches per each side of the sample (defined as the cut out from bottle above) with a standard deviation of 10% or less. The side with lower Critical Normal Load is reported as the result of this method. The Scratch Depth at Region of Failure is measured according to ASTM D7027 across the scratch location at the point which the onset of delamination occurs. The Critical Normal Load (N)is defined as the normal load recorded at the location determined to be the Point of Failure. A Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (KEYENCE VK-9700K) and VK-X200 Analyzer Software is used to analyze scratch-induced damage including the Point of Failure, Scratch Width, and Scratch Depth. Average Panel Wall Thickness

Panel Wall Thickness is measured with a digital micrometer such as a Shinwa 79523 Digital Micrometer having an accuracy of +/- 0.003 mm at least 2 locations of the panel wall from sections cut near the midpoint of the bottle height. Layer Thickness

The layer thickness is measured via MicroCT with image analysis where the effect pigment layer is defined as containing 95% of the pigment.

MicroCT scan method

Samples of the bottles to be tested are imaged using a microCT X-ray scanning instrument capable of scanning a sample having dimensions of approximately 5 mm x 5 mm x 3 mm as a single dataset with contiguous voxels. An isotropic spatial resolution of 1.8 μιη is required in the datasets collected by microCT scanning. One example of suitable instrumentation is the SCANCO Systems model μ50 microCT scanner (Scanco Medical AG, Bruttisellen, Switzerland) operated with the following settings: energy level of 55 kVp at 72 μΑ, 3600 projections, 10 mm field of view, 1000 ms integration time, an averaging of 10, and a voxel size of 1.8 μιη.

Test samples to be analyzed are prepared by cutting a rectangular piece of the plastic from the wall, preferably label panel region with an Exacto knife and then further trimming the sample to approx. 5 mm in width using a fine tooth Exacto saw with care to avoid causing cracks. The sample is positioned vertically with mounting foam material and placed into a plastic cylindrical scanning tube and secured inside the microCT scanner. The instrument's image acquisition settings are selected such that the image intensity contrast is sensitive enough to provide clear and reproducible discrimination of the sample structures from the air and the surrounding mounting foam. Image acquisition settings that are unable to achieve this contrast discrimination or the required spatial resolution are unsuitable for this method. Scans of the plastic sample are captured such that a similar volume of each sample with its caliper is included in the dataset.

Software for conducting reconstructions of the dataset to generate 3D renderings is supplied by the scanning instrument manufacturer. Software suitable for subsequent image processing steps and quantitative image analysis includes programs such as Avizo Fire 9.2 (Visualization Sciences Group / FEI Company, Burlington, Massachusetts, U.S.A.), and MATLAB version 9.1 with corresponding MATLAB Image Processing Toolbox (The Mathworks Inc. Natick, Massachusetts, U.S.A.). MicroCT data collected with a gray level intensity depth of 16-bit is converted to a gray level intensity depth of 8-bit, taking care to ensure that the resultant 8-bit dataset maintains the maximum dynamic range and minimum number of saturated voxels feasible, while excluding extreme outlier values.

Alignment of the sample surface such that it is parallel with the YZ plane of the global axis system is accomplished by one of the following ways including using a fixture for the microCT that aligns the material correctly or by using software, such as Avizo, to visually align the surface and use interpolation to resample the dataset.

The analysis is performed on a processed microCT dataset that contains a square section of material approximately 1.5mmxl.5mm. The dataset goes border to border in the YZ direction. It completely intersects the minimum Y border, the maximum Y border, the minimum Z border and the maximum Z border. A small non-material buffer of region will exist between the minimum X border and the maximum X border. This region will consist of air or packing material.

A material threshold is determined by executing Otsu's method on all the samples of interest and averaging the results. The material threshold should identify the bottle material while minimizing noise and packing material. The material threshold is applied to the aligned and trimmed dataset. Lines of voxel values, parallel to the x-axis, are acquired for every Y,Z value of the material dataset. A typical line will consist of a large continuous band of material which is the bottle. Smaller bands of material may also be present due to packing material used to hold the sample in place or due to noise. The position of the start and finish voxel of the largest band of material is recorded for each line. These positions are averaged together and give the edge of the material. The edge of the material may experience microCT defraction artifacts caused by the sudden change in density from air to polymer. These fringe effects may bring the edge voxel values high enough to be misclassified as pigment. To eliminate this effect, the material boundary, as determined by the average start and finish position, is moved inward by 10 voxels.

With the material boundaries established, each sample is once again processed by the Ostu's method to determine a threshold for the pigments. The average of all the sample thresholds is used to segment the pigment from the material. Each dataset is thresholded with the pigment threshold to generate a pigment dataset. Pigment voxels outside the material boundary are set to zero to remove any noise and fringe effects.

The number of pigment voxels on every YZ slice is calculated within the material. The slice totals are summed to a grand total. From these summations, bounding YZ slices are defined as those which enclose 95% of the pigment material. The distances from the material boundaries to the 95% pigment boundaries is reported as the layer thicknesses.

Gloss 20° (GU)

Gloss 20° is measured with a gloss meter at 20° micro-TRI-gloss (BYK-Gardner GmbH) according to ASTM D 2457/D523, ISO 7668/2813, and JIS Z8741. All gloss measurements were done over black background which we refer to as "Base Black". Base Black is the black area from the X-Rite Grey Scale Balance Card (45as45 L*a*b* 21.077 0.15 -0.29). Root mean square roughness (Rq)

The root mean square surface roughness is obtained by imaging with the LSCM (KEYENCE VK- 9700K) with 50x objective (0.95 NA) to scan the image and a VK-X200 software for analysis and surface roughness measurements as per JIS B 0601:2001 (ISO 4287:1997). Haze, Haze Anisotropy, Peak Specular Reflectance (GU), and Reflection Softness (FW at 3/5 Height of Specular Profile)

The haze reported here is also called reflected haze and it is measured with a haze meter/goniophotometer such as a Rhopoint IQ (20 60 85° Glossmeter, DOI Meter, Haze Meter, Goniophotometer, Rhopoint Instruments Limited) according to ASTM E430.

Reflected Haze = 100 x (∑ Pixels from 17° to 19° (sample) +∑ Pixels from 21° to 23° (sample))/ Specular Gloss (Standard)

The Haze Anisostropy is the ratio of haze (ie. reflected haze) measured for bottle samples when oriented parallel with the bottle height versus haze measured upon rotating the sample by 90°. The Peak Specular Reflectance is measured at 20° with a diode array covering +/- 7.25° from the specular angle in steps of 0.028°. Reflection Softness is measured from the Specular Profile (+/- 5.6°from Specular Angle in Gloss Units) as the full width (FW) at 3/5 of the peak height for the specular profile peak.

Total Luminous Transmittance

Luminous transmittance is measured using a Q7800 benchtop sphere spectrophotometer (X-Rite) using D65 illumination. The total luminous transmittance is measured in accordance with ASTM D1003.

Chroma, Lightness and Hue (C*, L*, h°) Reflected color characteristics of C*, L*, h° are measured using a Multi- Angle Spectrophotometer such as the MA98 from X-Rite Incorporated in accordance with ASTM E 308, ASTM E 1164, ASTM E 2194, and ISO 7724. The samples are placed over a white background which is referred to as "Base White". The "Base White" is the white area from the X-Rite Grey Scale Balance Card (45as45 L*a*b* 96.2 -0.8 3.16). The samples are measured with CIE Standard Illuminant D65/10 ⁰ illumination. The measurement naming system used here is written where the first angle provided is the illumination angle as defined from the surface normal and the second angle is the aspecular detection angle. This is further described in the diagram below.

C*, L*,and h° are coordinates of the CIELCH Color System where C* = Chroma, L*= Lightness, and h° = Hue angle. Chroma describes the vividness or dullness of a color where + is brighter and - is duller. Chroma is also known as saturation. Lightness is difference in lightness/darkness value where + is "lighter" and - is "darker. Hue is an attribute of a color by virtue of which it is discernible as red, green, etc., and which is dependent on its dominant wavelength, and independent of intensity or lightness.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as "40 mm" is intended to mean "about 40 mm."