Friction-welded barriered containers

Claim 2

A thermoplastic container, at least a portion of which comprises a barriered polymeric material, said container being manufactured by the process comprising: forming from a thermoplastic polymer a top section having an openable closure thereon; forming a tubular body section from a coextruded polymeric material having at least one layer of a strong plastic to which is adhered at least one layer of a barrier plastic; forming a container bottom section from a compatible thermoplastic material arranged for snug-fitting engagement with said body section; and, friction-welding at least one of said bottom and top sections to said body section.

Claim 3

A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said container is a generally circular cylinder and said friction-welding comprises spin-welding.

Claim 4

A container as claimed in claim 2, wherein said container comprises a can having a relatively flat top closure with tear-open tab means formed thereon.

Claim 5

A container as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said body portion comprises an outer layer and an inner layer each made from a polymer selected from the group comprising PET, PVC, polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyethylene, and a barrier layer between said inner and outer layers selected from the group comprising ethylene vinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol, styrene acrylonitrile, and polyvinylidene chloride.

Claim 6

A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of said sections attached to said body section is formed of a multi-layered barriered polymer material and is thermoformed from a coextruded sheet of said material.

Claim 7

A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said container is a bottle having an upwardly extending top section having a narrowed neck portion, a peripheral fill-ring, and means on said ring for engagement with a friction-welding mandrel.

Claim 8

A container as claimed in claim 3, wherein said bottle sections are circular cylindrical and are joined together by rotary spinwelding.

Claim 9

A composite thermoplastic can comprising: a tubular multilayered body section made up of at least one layer of a polymer material adhered to at least one layer of a barrier material; a thermoplastic bottom closure sealingly attached to the bottom end of said body section by friction-welding; and, a thermoplastic top closure sealingly attached to the top of said body section by friction-welding.

Claim 10

A composite thermoplastic can comprising: a tubular multilayered body section made up of at least one layer of a polymer material adhered to at least one layer of a barrier material; a thermoplastic bottom closure sealingly attached to the bottom end of said body section by friction-welding; and, a thermoplastic top closure sealingly attached to the top of said body section by friction-welding.

Claim 11

A composite can as claimed in claim 8, wherein said body section is cylindrical and said closures are spin-welded thereon.

Claim 12

A composite can as claimed in claim 8 or Q, wherein said body section is a coextruded tube.

Claim 13

A composite can as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein said body section is a coextruded cylindrical tube having at least three layers, one of which is a barrier layer.

Claim 14

A composite can as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein said body section is a coextruded cylindrical tube comprising an inner and outer layer of structural polymer material between which is located a layer of a barrier polymer.

Claim 15

The composite can of claim 12, wherein said inner and outer layers are each selected from the group of polymers consisting of PET, PVC, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene and nylon; and said barrier layer consists of a polymer selected from the group of ethylene vinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol, styrene acrylonitrile, and polyvinylidene chloride.

Claim 16

A composite can as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein at least one of said closures comprises a multi-layered polymer having a structural layer and a barrier polymer layer.

Claim 17

A composite can as claimed in claim 14, wherein at least one closure is formed from a coextruded polymer sheet by thermoforming.

Claim 18

A thermoplastic bottle having improved shipping characteristics and improved gas impermeability said bottle comprising: an upper bottle section comprising a lower skirt section having a friction-welding flange formed thereon and a narrowed, upwardly extending neck portion defining a pour opening, said upper bottle section formed of a thermoplastic container polymer; a central tubular body portion formed from a multi-layered, coextruded barriered tube of thermoplastic polymers, and adapted for snug-fitting engagement with said flange; a bottom closure comprising a peripheral spin- welding flange and a relatively flat central portion, said flange adapted for friction-welding to said body portion.

Claim 19

A thermoplastic bottle having improved shipping characteristics and improved gas impermeability said bottle comprising: an upper bottle section comprising a lower skirt section having a friction-welding flange formed thereon and a narrowed, upwardly extending neck portion defining a pour opening, said upper bottle section formed of a thermoplastic container polymer; a central tubular body portion formed from a multi-layered, coextruded barriered tube of thermoplastic polymers, and adapted for snug-fitting engagement with said flange; a bottom closure comprising a peripheral spin- welding flange and a relatively flat central portion, said flange adapted for friction-welding to said body portion.

Claim 20

A bottle as claimed in claim 16, wherein said central body portion comprises a circular cylinder having an inner and an outer layer each made of a polymer selected from the group comprising PET, PVC, polystyrene, and polypropylene, and an inner barrier layer selected from the group comprising polyvinyl alcohols, ethylene vinyl alcohol, polyvinylidene chloride, and styreneacrylonitrile.

Claim 21

A bottle as claimed in claim 17, wherein said barriered body portion is a coextruded cylindrical tube.

Claim 22

A bottle as claimed in claim 18, wherein at least one of said sections attached to said body portion is formed by thermoforming.

Claim 23

A bottle as claimed in claim 16, 17 or 18, wherein at least one of said upper bottle section and said bottom closure comprises a-multi-layered barriered polymer.

Claim 24

A bottle as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 20, wherein at least one of said sections attached to said body portion is spinwelded thereto.