Granted Patent B2

US 9,975,687 · App. 15/139,573 · Granted May 22, 2018

Inventors: Chris K Leser (Mahomet, IL); Charles T Wallace (Evansville, IN); Philip A Driskill (Newburgh, IN); John B Euler (Evansville, IN); Jason J Paladino (Newburgh, IN); Milan C Maravich (Newburgh, IN); Daniel O Davis (Cynthiana, IN); Jeffrey A Mann (Evansville, IN); Randy A Bowlds (Evansville, IN); Svetlana Contrada (Manalapan, NJ)

Assignee: Berry Plastics Corporation

B65D81/3874A47G19/2288A47J41/00B29C44/0446B29C44/569B29C47/004B29C47/0021B29C47/065B29C47/366B29C47/50B29C51/08B32B37/10B32B37/14B32B38/0004B32B38/145B41F3/00B29C47/0042B29C47/0064B29C47/0066B29C47/0069B29C53/36B29L2031/7132B31B50/88B31B2105/00B31B2105/001B31B2110/10B31B2110/20B32B37/12B32B37/153B32B2307/102B32B2323/10B32B2439/00B32B2439/02B65D2203/00

Abstract

Claims (32)

1. A method of producing a sheet and forming an insulative cup with the sheet, the method comprising the steps of

providing a strip of insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material,

providing a skin having a first side arranged to face away from the strip and an opposite second side arranged to face toward the strip,

printing an ink layer on one of the first and second sides of the skin,

coupling the skin to the strip of insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material to form a sheet,

cutting the sheet to form a body blank having a first side and an opposite second side,

providing a floor blank,

compressing portions of the body blank to cause the body blank to include a first portion having a first density and a second portion having a relatively greater second density,

forming a base from the body blank by coupling a portion of the first side of the body blank to a portion of the second side of the body blank, the base including a first end and an opposite second end,

forming a floor from the floor blank, and

joining the floor to the second end of the base to establish an insulative cup that is formed to include an interior region defined by the floor and the base,

wherein the second portion of the body blank is the portion of the first side of the body blank that is coupled to the portion of the second side of the body blank, and

wherein the strip of insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material comprises a polypropylene base resin, at least one nucleation agent, and at least one blowing agent configured to expand the polypropylene base resin to reduce density.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ink layer is printed on the second side of the skin during the printing step.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ink layer is printed on the first side of the skin during the printing step.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the printing step comprises the step of using a flexographic process to print the ink layer.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising the step of selecting an ultraviolet curing ink and using the ultraviolet curing ink during the printing step.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising the step of selecting an electron-beam curing ink and using the electron-beam curing ink during the printing step.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the printing step comprises the step of using a rotogravure process to print the ink layer.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first density is in a range of about 0.05 g/cm 3 to about 0.19 g/cm 3 and the second density is in a range of about 0.1 g/cm 3 to about 0.38 g/cm 3 .

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first density is about 0.175 g/cm 3 and the second density is about 0.350 g/cm 3 .

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the skin is biaxially oriented polypropylene film.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one blowing agent comprises carbon dioxide.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one blowing agent comprises at least one of pentane and butane.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polypropylene base resin comprises broadly distributed molecular weight polypropylene characterized by a distribution that is unimodal.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polypropylene base resin is a polypropylene copolymer resin.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polypropylene base resin is a polypropylene homopolymer resin.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising a polypropylene secondary resin which is a polypropylene homopolymer resin.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising a polypropylene secondary resin which is a polypropylene copolymer resin.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the at least one blowing agent comprises at least one of pentane and butane.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the strip of insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material has cells having an average cell aspect ratio in at least one direction in a range of about 1.0 to about 3.0.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coupling step comprises the steps of applying an adhesive to the ink layer and locating the adhesive between the ink layer and the strip of insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material.

Assignments (32)

Continuity (14)