Container having longitudinal grooves with at least one strip of a different color and/or appearance

• US 6,077,579 A
• Filed: 10/07/1997
• Issued: 06/20/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: L'Oreal SA
• Original Assignee: L'Oreal SA
• Inventors: De Laforcade, Vincent
• Primary Examiner(s): Robinson, Ellis
• Assistant Examiner(s): FIGUEROA, JOHN J
• Application Number:
  US08/944,973
• Time in Patent Office: 987 Days
• Field of Search: 428/35.7, 428/36.6, 428/36.8, 428/36.91, 428/542.8, 428/188, 428/167, 428/174, 428/181, 428/199, 428/122, 220/288, 220/600, 220/602, 220/662, 220/663, 220/669, 220/670, 220/671, 220/672, 220/673, 220/674, 220/675, 206/459.1, 206/459.5, 206/776, 206/781, 206/778, 264/505, 264/514, 264/516, 425/131.1, 215/349, 215/382, 215/383
• US Class Current: 428/35.7
• CPC Class Codes: A45D 33/18 with special decorative arrangements or form
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 1/34 designed to influence the nature of flow of the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. to produce swirl designed to control volume of flow B05B1/30
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 11/0037 Containers for several components B05B11/0078
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/09 Articles with cross-sections having partially or fully enclosed cavities, e.g. pipes or channels
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/12 Articles with an irregular circumference when viewed in cross-section, e.g. window profiles
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/19 the layers being joined at their edges
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 1/0207 characterised by material, e.g. composition, physical features
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 1/0223 characterised by shape
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 25/54 Inspection openings or windows
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2501/0081 Bottles of non-circular cross-section
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 35/40 for metering discharge
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1352 Polymer or resin containing [i.e., natural or synthetic]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24198 Channel-shaped edge component [e.g., binding, etc.]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/2457 Parallel ribs and/or grooves

Abstract

A container for a product of a liquid-to-pasty consistency, having at least one longitudinal strip which is of a color and/or appearance different from a color and/or appearance of a remainder of the container and which is delimited by two lateral edges. The lateral edges of the longitudinal strip or strips are situated substantially within longitudinal grooves so as to conceal any variations of width of the longitudinal strip. The container can be constructed of thermoplastic material in an injection molding device.

Claims

1. A thermoplastic container, comprising:

a thermoplastic body;

said body having at least one thermoplastic longitudinal strip which is different in at least one of a color and appearance from a color and appearance of a remainder of the container; and

said at least one thermoplastic longitudinal strip being delimited by longitudinal edges and flanked by longitudinal grooves forming a recess situated so that said longitudinal edges are located within said longitudinal grooves in order to conceal variations in width of said longitudinal strip.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein said body is made by blow molding a tubular blank in a mold comprising at least two female mold portions capable of being joined around a joint plane, said longitudinal grooves being orientated substantially perpendicularly to the joint plane.

3. The container according to claim 2, wherein the tubular blank is made by one of coextrusion and duplex injection molding of two physically and chemically compatible materials.

4. The container according to claim 3, wherein the tubular blank is made by coextrusion of materials including at least one of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyolefins.

5. The container according to claim 3, wherein the tubular blank is made by duplicate injection molding of materials including at least one of polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

6. The container according to claim 1, wherein said at least one longitudinal strip is translucent so as to allow a quantity of product in the container to be visible from outside the container.

7. The container according to claim 1, wherein said at least one thermoplastic longitudinal strip is made of a thermoplastic elastomer that is physically and chemically compatible with a material forming a remainder of the container.

8. The container according to claim 7, wherein the thermoplastic elastomer is one of a sequenced copolymer of styrene-ethylene-butadiene (SEBS) and a terpolymer of ethylene, propylene and a diene (EPDM).

9. The container according to claim 1, wherein said longitudinal grooves form a substantially U-shaped recess.

10. The container according to claim 1, wherein the container is a tube which is closed at one end and at another end has surmounted a neck including a detachable stopper.

11. The container according to claim 1, comprising:

the body being a bottle having opposed ends and defining a longitudinal axis X, said bottle comprising,

a bottom provided at one of said opposed ends, and

a neck extending from another of said opposed ends and having a detachable stopper;

at least one bottle.

12. The container according to claim 11, wherein:

the body of the bottle has perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X an elongated cross-sectioned shape defining a major axis and a minor axis;

said longitudinal grooves are disposed on either side of the major axis so as to define a delimited side which is substantially straight and substantially perpendicular to the major axis; and

said delimited side forming said at least one longitudinal strip.

13. The container according to claim 1, wherein said at least one thermoplastic longitudinal strip has a width of from 5 mm to 2 cm.

14. The container according to claim 1, wherein:

said longitudinal grooves are oriented substantially parallel to said at least one thermoplastic longitudinal strip such that said at least one thermoplastic longitudinal strip is elastically pivotable around a median plane between said longitudinal grooves.

15. The container according to claim 1, wherein said container contains a product of a liquid-to-pasty consistency.

16. The container according to claim 1, wherein said thermoplastic body has a height and said at least one thermoplastic longitudinal strip extends substantially over the entire height of the thermoplastic body.