Field of the Invention

The invention pertains to water bottles and more particularly to a stackable water bottle with a specially configured base and methods for making the bottles. The present invention also relates to the distribution and cleaning of liquid containers and more particularly but not exclusively to the same when the containers are used for water.

The invention also pertains to dispensers and more particularly to a dispenser for a disposable plastic cup which mates with a stacking recess in a bottle. Background of the Invention

Known plastic water bottles are generally circular in plan view and not readily stacked without the provision of special stacking rings. Other known bottles are square or polygonal in cross-section and are stackable only if placed on their sides. The resulting stack is often unstable. Further, blow moulding is used for the production of hollow thermoplastic articles.

The process includes delivering to a mould cavity a length of extruded tubing called a "parison". The parison is clamped within the mould cavity and thereafter a "blow pin" is inserted into the tubing and air under pressure (400-800kPa). The material is forced out against the interior contours of the mould. Thereafter, the mould halves are separated and the neck and bottom flashes are removed.

The above described method of manufacturing hollow thermoplastic articles suffers from the disadvantage that in the manufacture of bottles, the lower surface of the bottle cannot be formed with a large re-entrant portion, since it is impossible to separate the mould halves. Further a re-entrant portion causes certain other manufacturing difficulties. There is considerable demand for bottled water as used in water coolers and other types of dispensers. The bottles are relatively large and are inverted to engage the inlet of the dispenser. The bottles have an elongated neck. The above discussed bottles with their water, are generally distributed via motor lorry which carries a large number of the bottles. When a bottle is delivered, an empty bottle is collected and loaded back onto the vehicle. When the vehicle returns to its depot, the bottles need to be unloaded, washed and refilled and again loaded back onto the motor lorry for the next delivery. The present invention offers an alternative.

Dispensers for disposable cups are well known. However in many dispensers, one cannot see when the dispensers are empty or near empty. This creates a considerable source of inconvenience. Further, the quantity of cups which can be stored in a conventional dispenser is limited.

Object of the Invention

It is an object of the invention to provide a stackable water bottle which substantially ameliorates at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art.

Summary of the Invention The invention relates to a stackable water bottle for a water cooler. A bottle has a generally cylindrical neck and a base. The base is recessed. The configuration of the base includes a flat circumferential landing. The landing leads to a tapered portion which in turn leads to a cylindrical portion of the recess which is adapted to receive the neck of another bottle. The tapered portion and cylindrical portion are concentric with the neck. In a preferred embodiment of the invention both the landing and the tapered portion are load bearing and make contact with another bottle when stacked.

There is also disclosed herein a blow moulding assembly to manufacture hollow thermoplastic articles, said assembly including: a pair of mould halves which cooperate to enclose a mould cavity; each mould half including a main body and an end wall portion, with the main bodies of the mould assembly being separable to release the article while each end wall portion is separable from its associated main body during release of the article.

There is additionally disclosed herein a mobile facility to transport a plurality of containers, said facility comprising: an enclosure having an upwardly extending face through which containers are removed from or inserted into the enclosure; an endless conveyor which is oriented in a generally horizontal plane, said conveyer having a length adjacent said face; and a plurality of engagable means secured to the conveyor at spaced locations there along so that containers engaged therewith move with the conveyor.

There is also provided a cup dispenser comprising a top portion and a bottom portion. The bottom portion of the dispenser is adapted to be received by the bottom stacking recess of a plastic water cooler bottle. The top portion of the dispenser is provided with means for supporting an inverted stack of disposable cups. In some embodiments of the invention the top portion is adapted to support more than one stack of inverted disposable cups.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the top portion is in the form of one or more truncated cones.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a schematic composite cross-section of a stackable water bottle according to the teachings of the present invention. One side of the bottle is depicted as having five reinforcing ribs. The other side of the bottle is depicted as having three reinforcing ribs.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of two bottles in a stacked configuration.

Figures 3a and 3b are side elevations of other bottles.

Figures 4-12 are partially cross-sectioned schematic diagrams illustrating the steps of blow moulding a water bottle.

Figure 13 is a schematic perspective view of a motor lorry to transport beverage containers. Figure 14 is a schematic top plan view of the load carrying compartment of the motor lorry of Figure 1.

Figure 15 is a schematic perspective view of the motor lorry of Figure 1 and a servicing facility in respect of the containers to be transported by the motor lorry.

Figure 16 is a schematic perspective view of the load carrying compartment of the motor lorry of Figure 1.

Figure 17 is a schematic perspective view of the empty containers to be removed from the load carrying compartment of the motor lorry of Figure 1.

Figure 18 is a schematic perspective view of the cleaning and refilling of the containers of Figure 5. Figure 19 is a schematic top plan view of the motor lorry and servicing facility of

Figure 3.

Figure 20 is a schematic top plan perspective view of an alternative arrangement of the load carrying compartment of the motor lorry of Figure 1.

Figure 21 is a front plan view of a water cooler into which has been inserted a plastic water cooler bottle, the bottom recess of which is shown as receiving a dispenser according to the teachings of the present invention.

Figure 22 is a perspective view of the combination of cooler, bottle, dispenser and cups.

Figure 23 is an alternate embodiment of a dispenser according to the teachings of the present invention.

Figure 24 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 25 illustrates the dispenser of figure 4 used in conjunction with a plastic water bottle.

Best Mode and Other Embodiments of the Present Invention As shown in figure 1 a stackable water bottle 10 generally comprises a cylindrical body 11, a generally cylindrical neck or spout 12 and a specially configured base 13. It will be understood that figure 1 is a composite drawing and that the left hand of figure 1 represents a water bottle having five circumferential reinforcing ribs 14 while the right hand side of the drawing depicts a water bottle having three circumferential reinforcing or stiffening ribs 15.

The base 13 of the bottle 10 is characterised by a flat peripheral or circumferential landing 16, a tapered portion 17 and a cylindrical portion 18. The cylindrical portion 18 is concentric with the cylindrical outer walls of the body 11 and the neck 12 and is

. adapted to receive the neck of another bottle. The tapered portion 17 leads from the peripheral landing 16 to the cylindrical portion 18.

In the preferred embodiment, the top of the bottle 19 is configured to cooperate with the base of another bottle. Specifically, the top of the bottle includes a flat peripheral landing 20 and a tapered portion 21 which leads from the peripheral landing 20 to the neck 12.

As shown in figure 2, bottles of the type depicted in figure 1 may be advantageously stacked. In the preferred embodiment, the peripheral landing 16 of the base of one bottle contacts the peripheral landing 20 of the bottle below. Similarly, the tapered portion 21 of the top of one bottle contacts the tapered portion 17 of the base 13 of the bottle above. So that stresses are minimised, it is preferred that line contact is maintained between both peripheral landings 16, 20 and both tapered portions 17, 21. It is also preferred that excess clearances are minimised between the neck 12 and cylindrical recess 18.

Figures 3a and 3b illustrate a bottle similar to that shown in Figure 1, but with a shortern neck.

In Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings, there is schematically depicted a method of forming a parison 118 for use in the blow moulding assembly of Figures 6 to 12. -

In Figures 4a, 4b and 5, there is schematically depicted the parison 118 being formed by the extruder head 120. The parison 118 is of a generally circular transverse cross section and is tubular. The parison 118 is extruded so as to have a lower end portion 126 which is engaged by a pair of cooperating deformation members 127 which move in a direction toward each other to pinch the lower end portion 126 as best seen in Figure 4a. The deformation members 127 then part to permit the parison 118 to be delivered to the blow moulding assembly 110. The deformation members 127 cooperate to close the lower end 126 so that the closure portion 128 has a substantially smaller diameter than the remainder of the parison 118. That is, the generally cylindrical configuration of the parison 118 is generally uniformly reduced to form the closure 128.

By closing the parison 118 as discussed with reference to Figures 4 and 5, a more uniform distribution of material is achieved in forming the bottom wall 129 of the bottle 123.

The blow moulding assembly 110 of Figures 6 to 12 includes a pair of mould halves 111 and 112. The mould halves include support portions 113 and cavity defining portions 115. Each mould half 111 and 112 further includes an end wall portion 11. The mould halves 111 and 112 have an internal contoured surface which defines the shape of the article being formed.

Initially the mould halves 111 and 112 are each individually assembled but are separated to enable the insertion of a parison 118 to the interior of the mould cavity 119. The parison 118 is delivered from an extruder head 120. Thereafter the parison 118, at the end portion 126, is clamped between the end wall portions 117 when the mould is

partly closed, that is as best seen in Figure 4a. However before the cavity defining portions 115 engage the parison 118 and form a bottle neck therewith, the parison 118 is moved downward and/or further material extruded so as to splay the lower end thereof adjacent the end wall portions 117. This is best seen in Figure 8. This ensures that there 5 is sufficient thermoplastic material to form the bottom of the bottle.

Next the cavity defining portions 115 are moved together to engage the parison 118 so as to form the neck of the bottle. This is best seen in Figure 9. A blow pin 121 is inserted in the upper end 122 of the parison 118 and air under pressure delivered to the interior of the parison 118. This causes the thermoplastic material to expand outwardly to 10 conform to the interior contours of the cavity 119. This is best seen in Figure 10.

To release the bottle 123 now formed (see Figure 11) the end wall portions 117 are moved away from the remainder of the mould assembly 110. The support portions 113 are then separated as best seen in Figure 12 so that the bottle 123 is now totally released. Top and bottom flashings 125 are now removed. The cycle is then repeated. 15 The bottle 123 has a large re-entrant portion 124 which receives the neck 125 of an adjacent bottle with which it is stacked.

In the accompanying drawing figures 13-20 there is schematically depicted a method of distributing bottles, for example, water bottles. A motor lorry 210 which includes a load carrying compartment 211 having a front wall 212, two side walls 213, a roof 214 20 and a floor 215. The rear edges of the roof 214, sides 213 and floor 215 define a rear face 216 which is closed by means of a roller shutter 217.

The compartment 211 receives a plurality of containers 218, which may be blow moulded from plastics material so as to have an extended neck 219 and a re-entrant portion (cavity) 220 which receives the neck 219 of thenext adjacently below container 25 218. Accordingly, the containers 218 are vertically stackable and are generally stable in a stack due to the engagement of the neck 218 in the next adjacent above cavity 220.

Within the compartment 211, and more particularly mounted on the floor 215 is an endless conveyor 221, which moves around an endless loop as best seen in Figures 12 and 13. The conveyor 221 has a length 222 which extends adjacent the face 216 so that the 30 containers can be removed from the interior of the compartment 211, or loaded into the compartment 211.

The conveyor 221 has a plurality of posts 223 at equally spaced locations along the length of the conveyor 221, which posts 223 are adapted to engage with the neck 219 or the cavity 220 of a container 218 mounted on the conveyor 221. 35 Preferably the conveyor 221 would be motorised so that the delivery driver may selectively operate the conveyor 221 to locate near the face 216 containers 218 to be removed.

The containers 218 which are stacked in their correct orientation (that is with the neck 219 projecting upwardly) are full of a beverage such as water. As the delivery 40 driver removes containers 218 that are full and retrieves empty containers, the empty

. containers are stacked back onto the conveyor 221. In this embodiment, the empty containers are stacked so as to be inverted, however this is not essential.

The lorry 210 and its associated compartments 211 may be used in conjunction with a servicing facility 224. The servicing facility is automated so as to remove empty containers adjacent the face 216, and then wash and refill the containers 218. The conveyor 221 would be operated as stacked empty containers would be sequentially removed and refilled containers placed back on the conveyor 221.

The empty containers 218 entering the facility 221 are inverted and are washed while in that inverted orientation. They are subsequently rotated until they are upright. Once upright, they are refilled and a cap placed on the top of the container 218 to sealingly close it. This is best seen in Figures 17 and 18.

The facility 224 would include a conveying means 225 for the containers 218, with a first segment 227 of the conveying means 225 separating the containers 218 and placing each of the containers 218 on a wash nozzle. A second segment 228 would wash the 5 interior and exterior of the containers 218 with a detergent. A following section 229 would then rinse the containers. The containers 218 would then return via a section 230 whereat they are filled and subsequently stacked at a section 226. From the section 26, they would be placed back on the conveyor 21.

Either the motor lorry 210 and/or the facility 224 would be movable so that the 0 compartment 211 is correctly oriented with the facility 224.

In Figure 20, an alternative configuration of the conveyor 221 is illustrated. In this particular embodiment, the conveyor 221 is divided into a series of sub-conveyors, however each sub-conveyor has a portion adjacent the face 216.

As shown in Figures 21-25, a conventional water cooler 310 may receive a specially 5 adapted stackable plastic water bottle 320. The water bottle 320 is provided with a bottom recess 321 which allows the bottle to be stacked on top of another plastic bottle. The bottom recess 321 includes at least a cylindrical portion 322 for receiving the neck of the bottle onto which it is stacked. This cylindrical portion 322 of the bottom recess 321 is ideally suited to receive a cup dispenser 330. The cup dispenser includes a lower 0 portion 331 and an upper portion 332. The lower portion is generally cylindrical and is adapted to fit snugly within the cylindrical portion 322 of the plastic water bottle bottom recess. The upper portion 332 is adapted to support an inverted disposable cup 333 and thus a stack of inverted disposable cups 334. In a preferred embodiment, the top portion 332 is in the form of a truncated cone which snugly receives the inverted disposable cup

35 333.

It will be appreciated that other configurations for the bottom portion 331 may be utilised so long as the bottom portion fits within the bottom recess 321 and so long as the top portion 332 is adapted to support a disposable cup, preferably in the inverted position so that the cup does not accumulate dirt or dust.

As shown in Figure 22 the stack 334 of the inverted disposable cups is neatly supported by the dispenser 330, which is in turn supported by the plastic water bottle 320. The disposable cups are easily within reach and are plainly visible. The dispenser 330 is easy to keep clean, easy to fit, has no moving parts and is inexpensive. Another embodiment of the invention is depicted in Figure 23. In this embodiment the bottom portion 341 of the dispenser 340 comprises a cylindrical portion. However, the top portion 342 comprises three limbs 343, 344, 345, equally spaced from one another and each supporting a truncated cone 346 which serves the same purpose as the truncated cone 332 described with reference to Figures 21 and 22. It will be appreciated that in this way, two or more top portions can be provided on a single bottom portion whereby the number of inverted stacks of disposable cups may be increased. The embodiment disclosed in Figure 23 is shown in combination with a plastic water bottle in Figure 25.

Another embodiment of the invention is depicted in Figure 24. In this instance, the top portion of the dispenser is in the form of a platform 350 which may support one or more cup supporting elements 351. In this instance, each element 351 is depicted as a truncated cone. In this particular embodiment, the platform 350 is shown as supporting three truncated cones 351. It will be appreciated that the platform 350 can support one, two or more truncated cones 351 and that different contrivances may be used in place of the truncated cone for the purpose of supporting an inverted stack of disposable cups. In this instance, the top portion 350, 351 is supported by a cylindrical bottom portion 352.

While the present invention has been disclosed with reference to particular arrangements and details of construction, it should be appreciated that these have been provided by way of example and not as limitations to the scope or spirit of the invention.

Statement of Industrial Applicability The invention applies to the blow moulding industry so far as it pertains to the manufacture of bottles and containers. The invention also applies to the sale and distribution of large dispensing containers (and accessories for same) such as are commonly used for drinking water.