Manufacturing process to produce a necked container

1. A necking system comprising:

a plurality of necking dies configured for use on a metal bottle stock, wherein at least one necking die comprises a necking surface and a relief;

wherein the necking surface comprises a land portion, a neck radius portion, and a shoulder radius portion, each having an inner diameter;

wherein the land portion is between the neck radius portion and the relief and the inner diameter of the land is a minimum diameter of the die;

wherein the inner diameters of the neck radius portion and the shoulder radius portion are greater than the inner diameter of the land;

wherein the relief comprises:

(a) a relief surface;

(b) an inner diameter of the relief surface is at least about 0.01 inches greater than the inner diameter of the land portion;

(c) an inner diameter of the relief surface is no greater than a maximum diameter so as to reduce but not eliminate frictional contact between the metal bottle stock and the relief surface while maintaining necking performance when necking the metal bottle stock; and

wherein the at least one necking die is dimensioned so that when necking the metal bottle stock, the entire land and the relief travel relative to the bottle stock in an axial direction and at least a portion of the relief travels beyond a top of the bottle stock.

2. The necking system of claim 1 wherein the land has a surface finish Ra ranging from about 8 μin to about 32 μin.

3. The necking system of claim 2 wherein the neck radius portion and the shoulder radius portion have a surface finish Ra ranging from about 2 μin to about 6 μin.

4. The necking system of claim 1 wherein the relief has a surface finish Ra ranging from about 8 μin to about 32 μin.

5. The necking system of claim 4 wherein the plurality of necking dies are configured for producing a bottle necked package from a metal sheet can having an upper sidewall thickness of at least about 0.0085 inch, wherein the introductory die comprises the introductory percent reduction of greater than about 9%.

6. The necking system of claim 5 wherein the metal sheet has a post bake yield strength ranging from about 34 to about 37 ksi.

7. The necking system of claim 1 wherein the inner diameter of the relief is at least about 0.005 inches (radial) or 0.010 inches (diametral) greater than the inner diameter of the land.

8. The necking system of claim 1 wherein the shoulder radius portion comprises a body radius being constant for each necking die of the plurality of necking dies.

9. The necking system of claim 8 wherein the body radius comprises an origin having a coordinate positioned at a constant distant from a centerline of each necking die of the plurality of necking dies and at a constant distant from a neck die entry opening of each necking die of the plurality of necking dies.

10. The necking system of claim 9 wherein the coordinate is about 0.455 inches from the centerline of each necking die of the plurality of necking dies and is about 0.275 inches from the neck die entry opening of each necking die of the plurality of necking dies.

11. A method of necking a metal blank comprising the steps of:

providing a metal blank comprised of bottle stock;

shaping the metal blank into a container having an initial inside diameter;

necking the container into a bottle with at least one necking die having a necking surface and a relief; wherein the necking surface comprises a land, a neck radius portion, and a shoulder radius portion; each having an inner diameter; wherein the land is between the neck radius portion and the relief and the inner diameter of the land is a minimum diameter of the die;

wherein the inner diameters of the neck radius portion and the shoulder radius portion are greater than the inner diameter of the land;

wherein the relief comprises:

(a) a relief surface;

(b) an inner diameter of the relief surface is at least about 0.01 inches greater than the inner diameter of the land portion;

(c) an inner diameter of the relief surface is no greater than a maximum diameter so as to reduce but not eliminate frictional contact between the metal bottle stock surface and the relief surface while maintaining necking performance when necking the metal bottle stock; and

wherein the step of necking the bottle stock comprises inserting the container into the at least one necking die such that the entire land and the relief travel relative to the container in an axial direction wherein at least a portion of the relief travels beyond a top of the container.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the land has a surface finish Ra ranging from about 8 μin to about 32 μin, the neck radius portion and the shoulder radius portion have a surface finish ranging Ra from about 2 μin to about 6 μin.

13. The necking method of claim 11 wherein the bottle stock comprises a geometry for an aerosol can or a beverage bottle.