P. E. T. BOTTLE WITH SIDE HANDLE AND ITS MANUFACTURING METHOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a P. E. T. bottle with a side handle and its manufacturing method, and in particular but not exclusively to a P. E. T. bottle with a handle integrally formed with the preform of the bottle.

The invention can provide bottles with strong handles, and the bottles can be more economic to manufacture and easier to recycle.

Description of the Prior Art Previously, plastic bottles have been manufactured by extrusion blow moulding *om P. E. (polyethylene), P. P. (polypropylene) and P. V. C.

(polyvinylchloride). However, these materials can release poisonous substances.

They are not accepted by the FDA. The extrusion blow moulding process produces runners, which have to be manually trimmed. This is a waste of time and manpower.

The runners can also cause environmental problems.

In the nineteen seventies, a new technology-injection stretch blowing-was invented. In injection stretch blowing, the material used is P. E. T. (polyethylene terephalate). It is approved by the FDA for food packaging. P. E. T. is more transparent, durable and lighter. Before long, most plastic bottles were made from P. E. T.

First P. E. T. bottles with handles were not economic. The handle was separately moulded from P. P. When the P. E. T. preform was blow into a bottle, a slot was formed. The handle was then fitted to the slot. However, the handle was easily loosened from the bottle. So its strength and usefulness was limited. Then the process was revised. The blowing mould was designed to receive the handle in its intended position. On blowing of the preform, the handle became joined to the bottle.

However, this caused recycling difficulties, because the bottle and the handle were of two different materials and not easy to separate.

Once again, the designer chan=, the handle to be made from P. E. T. It was united to the bottle in the same way. However, the process remains labour and time consuming. Also it requires an additional mould. It is not competitive.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention is to provide an improved P. E. T. bottle with an off-centre neck.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a plastics material bottle having a handle, the bottle comprising : * a moulded neck of the bottle ; * a body of the bottle, the body being integrally formed with and blown from the neck ; and * a handle of the bottle, the handle being integrally moulded with the neck of the bottle one end and connected to the body of the bottle at the other end.

Preferably, the other end of the handle has an abutment face, against which a portion of the body of the bottle blows for connection of the body to the handle. The abutment face can be curved. In the preferred embodiment, the other end of the handle also has a locking formation extending inwardly of the body of the bottle, the blown body being formed around the formation and against the abutment face.

Preferably, the bottle and the handle are of P. E. T. material.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of forming a plastics material bottle consisting in the steps of : injection moulding a preform having a neck portion, a body portion and a handle, one end of the handle being connected to the neck portion and the other end being free as moulded,

heatin the body portion of the preform and inserting it in a blowing mould shaped define the shape of the body of the bottle and adapted to accommodate the handle ; blowing the body portion to shape the body of the bottle and bring a portion of the body into contact with the other end of the handle to connect the handle to the body of the bottle ; * cooling the body of the bottle and releasing it from the mould.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a blowing mould for performing the method of the invention to form a bottle of the invention, the blowing mould being shaped to hold the neck portion of the bottle and to hold the handle, with the one end of the handle extending from the neck portion and the other end of the handle extending to bottle shape defining cavity of the blowing mould.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided an injection mould for a preform for the bottle of the invention, the injection mould being shaped to form the preform with the handle extending from the neck portion of the preform.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To he) p understanding of the invention, a specific embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : Figure ! is a side view of a preform with an integrally moulded handle for a bottle in accordance with the invention ; Figure 2 is a similar view of the bottle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, the bottle body 1 and handle 2 are of the same P. E. T. material and an inte, ral product. The handle 2 is injection moulded integrally with the preform 3, with the handle attached at one end to the neck 10 of the bottle, the neck and the handle being moulded in their finished shape. The other free end of the handle has an abutment face 2 1, against which a portion the body of the bottle is blown. and a locker 20 extending inwardly with respect to the body of the bottle. The

abutment surface is curved. In the finished bottle, the portion of the body not only abuts the face 21, but wraps around the locker 20, securely connecting this other end of the handle to the body I of the bottle.

In manufacture of the bottle, the preform is first moulded in P. E. T. material, with the handle attached to the rim of the neck 10. The preform is heated and inserted into a blowing mould, which is shaped to hold the neck portion of the bottle and to hold the handle, the mould being locally shaped complementarily to the shape of the handle. The abutment face 21 is flush with the surface of the mould which defines the finished shape of the bottle, with the locker 20 extending inwardly of the mould cavity. The body of the preform is stretched and blown simultaneously in the conventional manner to finished shape, with the mentioned portion abutting the face 21 and wrapping around the locker 20. The bottle is cooled and released from the mould, with the one end of the handle integrally moulded with the neck and the other strongly gripped into the body of the bottle.

The bottle is of one material, hence easy to recycle. It is produced economically being a single moulding without the need for a separate injection mould for the handle and without the need for additional handling of a separate component, i. e. the handle.

The invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the above described embodiment. For instance, although the neck is off-centre with respect to the body, it could be produced concentrically. The off-centre neck is the subject of my co-pending application which is being filed simultaneously herewith and is identifiable as claiming priority from my US patent application No 09/366,312.