Systems and methods using container holders configured to provide a stable support for containers held therein in order to efficiently cool the containers after a hot-fill or elevated temperature operation. The container holders can allow a fluid to pass from an inner volume of the container holder
Systems and methods using container holders configured to provide a stable support for containers held therein in order to efficiently cool the containers after a hot-fill or elevated temperature operation. The container holders can allow a fluid to pass from an inner volume of the container holder to outside the container holder through side apertures and/or an open bottom end of the container holder. Groups of containers and container holders also may be cooled. Groups of containers in container holders can be processed through the cooling operation at a speed different from a speed for holderless containers.
대표청구항▼
1. A system for processing plastic containers, comprising: a hot-filling station to hot-fill a plurality of plastic containers with a product;a capping station to cap the hot-filled plastic containers; anda cooling station to cool the plurality of hot-filled and capped plastic containers from a hot
1. A system for processing plastic containers, comprising: a hot-filling station to hot-fill a plurality of plastic containers with a product;a capping station to cap the hot-filled plastic containers; anda cooling station to cool the plurality of hot-filled and capped plastic containers from a hot state to a predetermined warm state, each of the plastic containers being positioned in a respective container holder,wherein each of said container holders includes:at least one sidewall forming an inner volume, a first open end, and a second open end, the at least one sidewall including at least one opening defined therein to allow fluid to transfer between the inner volume and outside the inner volume;a support structure to support a plastic container positioned thereon, the support structure being formed in one piece with the at least one sidewall at the second open end, so as to extend from the at least one sidewall into the inner volume; andspacing members formed in one piece with the sidewall to space apart from the at least one sidewall the plastic container placed in the inner volume, wherein each spacing member is formed as a fin and includes an upper portion, a bottom portion, and at least one horizontally-extending protruding portion formed between and spaced from the upper portion and the bottom portion, wherein the at least one horizontally-extending protruding portion is facing the support structure and is configured to prevent a container placed in the inner volume from being removed from the inner volume. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the hot state is about 185 degrees Fahrenheit and the predetermined warm state is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein a time period for the hot-filled and capped plastic containers to cool from the hot state to the predetermined warm state is about fourteen minutes to about eighteen minutes. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein said cooling station subjects the hot-filled and capped plastic containers to at least one of room temperature water or water cooler than room temperature. 5. The system of claim 4, wherein said cooling station subjects the hot-filled and capped plastic containers to room temperature water for no more than about eighteen minutes. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one opening is configured to allow water to flow from the inner volume to the outside of the sidewall to assist in the cooling. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one opening is located intermediate the first and second open ends, and wherein the at least one opening is configured to allow water to flow from the inner volume to the outside of the sidewall to cool a container placed in the inner volume on the support structure. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the horizontally-extending protruding portion comprises at least one horizontally-extending engagement surface, with an upper vertically-configured portion defined between the horizontally-extending engagement surface and the upper portion, and a lower vertically-configured portion defined between the horizontally-extending engagement surface and the bottom portion, wherein the at least one horizontally-extending engagement surface is facing the support structure. 9. The system of claim 8, wherein said at least one horizontally-extending engagement surface is formed by a cut-away portion extending from the bottom portion to the engagement surface of each said spacing member, and wherein the spacing members are formed by a vertically-extending protruding portion. 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the upper portion of each said spacing member includes a sloped portion, and wherein the sloped portion is arcuate. 11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a placing station to place the plastic containers on respective container holders for holding the plastic containers. 12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a positioning station to position said container holders having respective hot-filled and capped plastic containers placed thereon, such that each said container holder is in contact with at least three other of said container holders, and such that each hot-filled and capped plastic container is in a spaced-apart relationship with all other of the positioned hot-filled and capped plastic containers. 13. A system for processing plastic containers, comprising: a hot-filling station to hot-fill a plurality of plastic containers with a product;a capping station to cap the hot-filled plastic containers; anda cooling station to cool the plurality of hot-filled and capped plastic containers from a hot state to a predetermined warm state, each of the plastic containers being positioned in a container holder,wherein each of said container holders includes:at least one sidewall forming an inner volume, a first open end, and a second open end, the at least one sidewall including at least one opening defined therein to allow fluid to transfer between the inner volume and outside the inner volume;a support structure to support a plastic container positioned thereon, the support structure being formed in one piece with the at least one sidewall at the second open end, so as to extend from the at least one sidewall into the inner volume; andspacing members formed in one piece with the sidewall to space apart from the at least one sidewall the plastic container placed in the inner volume, wherein the spacing members include an upper portion, a bottom portion, and at least one horizontally-extending engagement surface formed between and spaced from the upper portion and the bottom portion with an upper vertically-configured portion defined between the horizontally-extending engagement surface and the upper portion, and a lower vertically-configured portion defined between the horizontally-extending engagement surface and the bottom portion, wherein the at least one horizontally-extending engagement surface extends at a right angle with respect to the lower vertically-configured portion and is configured to prevent a container placed in the inner volume from being removed from the inner volume.
연구과제 타임라인
LOADING...
LOADING...
LOADING...
LOADING...
LOADING...
이 특허에 인용된 특허 (185)
Ford Geoffrey E. (Bedford GB2) Pantelides Antis (Bedford GB2) Willsmer Trevor R. (Bedford GB2), Apparatus for deflecting bottles in bottle feeding apparatus.
Takada, Takuzo; Sugirua, Hiroaki; Ilzuka, Takao, Apparatus for filling a high temperature liquid into a biaxially oriented, saturated polyester bottle, a device for cooling said bottle.
Fischer ; Stefan ; Wollschlager ; Dieter ; Scharrenbroich ; Helmut ; Fi scher ; Rainer, Apparatus for the manufacture of a thermoplastic container with a handle.
Fandeux Isabelle (Evian-les-Bains FRX) Petre Jean-Marie (Bons-en-Chablais FRX), Axially-crushable bottle made of plastics material, and tooling for manufacturing it.
Krishnakumar Suppayan M. (Nashua NH) Collette Wayne N. (Merrimack NH) Miller Bryan H. (Florence KY), Base configuration for an internally pressurized container.
Malik John H. (Naperville IL) Mikula John J. (Kennesaw GA) Julien Robert A. (Naperville IL), Blow molding a closed plastic drum including two speed compression molding of an integral handling ring.
Bartley Harold D. (Springfield OH) Gaiser William R. (Dayton OH) ..AP: Broadway Companies ; Inc. (Dayton OH 02), Blown plastic container having an integral single thickness skirt of bi-axially oriented PET.
Hansen Jeffrey E. ; Osakada Kunio,JPX ; Myers Michael J., Container and method of making container from polyethylene naphthalate and copolymers thereof.
Dulmaine Joseph Francis (Wheatridge CO) Bagrosky Michael Edward (Arvada CO), Container with outwardly flexible bottom end wall having integral support means and method and apparatus for manufacturi.
Alberghini Alfred C. (Dunwoody GA) Brunson David A. (Marietta GA) Lynn Stephen R. (Douglasville GA), Hot fill container with reconfigurable convex volume control panel.
Vailliencourt Dwayne G. (Manchester MI) Eberle ; Jr. Theodore F. (Kapellen BEX), Hot fill plastic container having reinforced pressure absorption panels.
Roger M. Prevot ; Robert Andrew Stewart ; Jay Arnold ; Nicole Green ; Marvin Lee Smith ; Tracy Marie Momany, Hot-fillable and retortable flat paneled jar.
Leftault ; Jr. Charles J. (Murrysville PA) Willis W. Coy (Verona PA), Inwardly reformable endwall for a container and a method of packaging a product in the container.
Agrawal Purushottam D. (South Windsor CT) Mandell John F. (Wayland MA), Method for producing a collapse resistant polyester container for hot fill applications.
Collette Wayne N. (Merrimack NH) Krishnakumar Suppayan M. (Nashua NH) Lin Chih C. (Nashua NH), Method of forming a container having a low crystallinity.
Collette Wayne N. ; Krishnakumar Suppayan M. ; Lin Chi Ching,TWX, Method of forming container with high-crystallinity sidewall and low-crystallinity base.
McHenry Robert J. (St. Charles IL) Brito Joseph B. (Wildwood IL) Piatt ; Jr. Wilson T. (Sugar Grove IL) Reed Robert J. (Crystal Lake IL) Vavadarajan Krishnaraju (Hoffman Estates IL) Spencer Kenneth B, Method of obtaining acceptable configuration of a plastic container after thermal food sterilization process.
McHenry Robert J. (St. Charles IL) Brito Joseph B. (Wildwood IL) Piatt ; Jr. Wilson T. (Sugar Grove IL) Reed Robert J. (Jackson MS) Varadarajan Krishnaraju (Hoffman Estates IL) Spencer Kenneth B. (Ba, Method of obtaining acceptable configuration of a plastic container after thermal food sterilization process.
McHenry Robert J. (St. Charles IL) Brito Joseph B. (Wildwood IL) Piatt ; Jr. Wilson T. (Sugar Grove IL) Reed Robert J. (Jackson MS) Varadarajan Krishnaraju (Hoffman Estates IL) Spencer Kenneth B. (Ba, Method of obtaining acceptable configuration of a plastic container after thermal food sterilization process.
Zenger Richard D. (Downers Grove IL) Cornell Stephen W. (Wheaton IL) Schneiders E. James (Winnetka IL), Method of packaging products in plastic containers.
Andison, David; Scheffer, Steven, Method of supporting plastic containers during product filling and packaging when exposed to elevated temperatures and internal pressure variations.
Collette Wayne N. ; Schmidt Steven L. ; Krishnakumar Suppayan M., Multilayer preform and container with polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and method of forming same.
Melrose, David Murray; Bysick, Scott E.; Harrell, George T.; Ogg, Richard K.; Pritchett, Jr., Raymond A., Plastic container having an inverted active cage.
Pocock John F. E. (Neu-Isenburg NH DEX) Mahajan Gautam K. (Nashua NH) Krishnakumar Suppayan M. (Nashua NH) Friendship Kenneth F. M. (Clarendon Hills IL), Plastic container with internal rib reinforced bottom.
Gygax Ralph A. (Westerville OH) Lippian Joseph M. (Worthington OH) Loughrin Thomas D. (Columbus OH) Malone William T. (Columbus OH) Osip Thomas W. (Worthington OH) Pezzoli Paul A. (Worthington OH), Plastic containers capable of surviving sterilization.
Hoppmann Kurt H. (Falls Church VA) Lin James G. (Springfield VA) Schmitt Werner H. (Falls Church VA), Rotary puck conveying, accumulating and qualifying mechanism.
Stark William A. (Costa Mesa CA) Hardiman Kempton H. (Mission Viejo CA) Scribner Richard A. (Fullerton CA) Mazza John (El Toro CA), Sample tube carrier.
Copland Donald S. (Lebanon OH) Halstead Larry D. (Hamilton OH) O\Brien Lawrence E. (Cincinnati OH), Shaped thermoformed flexible film container for granular products and method and apparatus for making the same.
※ AI-Helper는 부적절한 답변을 할 수 있습니다.