Container which is nestable without sticking

Claim 2

A nestable, thin walled, cup-like plastic container comprising a circular bottom, a sidewall joined to said bottom at its peripheral margin and tapering generally upwardly and outwardly to an upper margin defining an open end and circumferential stacking means forming a part of said sidewall, said stacking means comprising a first series of circumferentially positioned inwardly extending projections reversely tapered toward the container axis having upper surface portions for supporting contact with portions of a similarly configured container when nested therein and a second series of projections intermediate said first series extending inwardly in a reverse taper toward the container axis beyond said first series, said second series having upper surface portions for supporting contact with additional portions of said similarly configured container, the length of the second series of projections measured circumferentially of the container being no greater than that of the similarly measured length of the first series of projections.

Claim 3

The container of claim 1 wherein said second series of projections are between three to eight in number and are substantially equispaced circumferentially around the container.

Claim 4

The container of claim 1 wherein said second series of projections extend inwardly of the first series of projections by an amount equal to from 1.5 to 13 times the extent of inward projection of the first series of projections.

Claim 5

The container of claim 1 wherein said circumferential length of the second series of projections is from 25 to 100 percent of that of the first series of projections.

Claim 6

A plurality of thin walled, substantially identical, nested thermoplastic cups forming a stack, each of said cups comprising a base, an outwardly tapering sidewall extending upwardly from the peripheral margin of the base to an upper margin defining an open end and circumferential stacking means forming a part of said sidewall, said stacking means comprising a first series of circumferentially positioned inwardly extending projections reversely tapering toward the cup axis having upper surface portions in supporting contact with portions of the peripheral margin of the next uppermost container in the stack and a second series of projections intermediate said first series extending inwardly in a reverse taper toward the cup axis beyond said first series and having upper surface portions in supporting contact with other portions of the peripheral margin of said next uppermost container in the stack, the extent of circumferential contact between the upper surface portions of the second series of projections and the peripheral margin of said next uppermost container being less than the extent of circumferential contact between the upper surface portions of the first series of projections and the peripheral margin of said next uppermost container.

Claim 7

A plurality of thin walled, substantially identical, nested thermoplastic cups forming a stack, each of said cups comprising a base, an outwardly tapering sidewall extending upwardly from the peripheral margin of the base to an upper margin defining an open end and circumferential stacking means forming a part of said sidewall, said stacking means comprising a first series of circumferentially positioned inwardly extending projections reversely tapering toward the cup axis having upper surface portions in supporting contact with portions of the peripheral margin of the next uppermost container in the stack and a second series of projections intermediate said first series extending inwardly in a reverse taper toward the cup axis beyond said first series and having upper surface portions in supporting contact with other portions of the peripheral margin of said next uppermost container in the stack, the extent of circumferential contact between the upper surface portions of the second series of projections and the peripheral margin of said next uppermost container being less than the extent of circumferential contact between the upper surface portions of the first series of projections and the peripheral margin of said next uppermost container.

Claim 8

The container of claim 5 wherein the two sets of reversely tapered intermediate portions interconnect the peripheral margin of the container with the inwardly extending projections, the set of reversely tapered portions connecting the most inwardly extending projections being at an angle of from 6.5* to 25* with the vertical, the other set of reversely tapered portions being at an angle of from 2* to 6* with the vertical.