Injection molded polymeric biodegradable container

Abstract

A biodegradable container including a unitary polymeric body element having a top portion and a cylindrical body portion. The top portion has a cylindrical neck wherein the cylindrical neck defines an inner surface and an outer surface. The container further includes a polymeric bottom element welded to the cylindrical body portion of the unitary polymeric body element. A polymeric cap defines an internal rim configured to be received by the inner surface of the cylindrical neck. The polymeric cap includes an external cover having an interior surface which may be tapered so that the outer surface of the cylindrical neck and the interior surface of the external cover form an inner seal. The interior surface of the external cover may also form an outer seal with the outer surface of the cylindrical neck when the polymeric cap is in a closed position.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A biodegradable container, comprising:
 a cylindrical polymeric body element;   a polymeric top dome element including a dome portion and a cylindrical neck, the dome portion being welded to the cylindrical polymeric body portion and the cylindrical neck defining an inner surface and an outer surface;   a paper sleeve surrounding the cylindrical polymeric body element; and   a polymeric cap defining an internal rim configured to be received by the inner surface of the cylindrical neck.   
     
     
         2 . The biodegradable container of  claim 1  wherein the cylindrical polymeric body element is injection-molded and defines a set of exterior ribs extending from a circumference defined by an external surface of a body of the cylindrical polymeric body element, the paper sleeve being supported by the set of exterior ribs. 
     
     
         3 . The biodegradable container of  claim 2  wherein a draft angle associated with the external surface of the body is 0.5° or less. 
     
     
         4 . The biodegradable container of  claim 3  wherein the set of external ribs are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the biodegradable container. 
     
     
         5 . The biodegradable container of  claim 2  wherein one or more of the set of external ribs each define a barb to retain the paper sleeve. 
     
     
         6 . The biodegradable container of  claim 1  wherein the internal rim surface defines threads configured to engage corresponding threads defined by the inner surface of the cylindrical neck. 
     
     
         7 . The biodegradable container of  claim 1  wherein the polymeric cap includes an outer cylindrical cover configured to extend over the outer surface of the cylindrical neck. 
     
     
         8 . The biodegradable container of  claim 1  wherein the outer cylindrical cover includes a sealing lip disposed to form a seal between an interior surface of the outer cylindrical cover and the outer surface of the cylindrical neck. 
     
     
         9 . The biodegradable container of  claim 1  further including a tamper-evident label affixed to an exterior surface of the cylindrical neck and an exterior surface of the polymeric cap. 
     
     
         10 . The biodegradable container of  claim 1  further including a seal between the internal rim surface and the inner surface of the cylindrical neck. 
     
     
         11 . The biodegradable container of  claim 1  wherein the a polymeric top dome element defines one or more indentations configured to engage tooling for spin welding of the polymeric top dome element to the cylindrical polymeric body element. 
     
     
         12 . A method of producing a biodegradable container, the method comprising:
 injection molding a polymeric material into a cylindrical polymeric body element and a polymeric top dome element wherein the injection molding includes forming the polymeric top dome element so as to include a dome portion and a cylindrical neck defining an aperture and forming the cylindrical body element so as to include a plurality of ribs extending from an external surface of the cylindrical body element;   welding a lower lip of the dome portion to an upper lip of the cylindrical polymeric body element;   sliding a cylindrical paper sleeve around a periphery of the cylindrical polymeric body element so as to envelop the cylindrical polymeric body element, the cylindrical paper sleeve being supported by the plurality of ribs.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further including capping the aperture using a polymeric cap having a threaded internal rim circumscribed by an external cap cover, the threaded internal rim being received by a threaded surface of the cylindrical neck and the external cap cover covering an external surface of the cylindrical neck. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  further including affixing a tamper-evident label to an exterior surface of the cylindrical neck and an exterior surface of the external cap cover. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  further including introducing a sealing element between the threaded internal rim and the threaded surface of the cylindrical neck. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the welding includes using tooling to spin weld the polymeric top dome element to the upper lip of the cylindrical polymeric body element wherein the tooling is configured to engage one or more indentations defined by the polymeric top dome element. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the tooling is further configured to engage one or more ribs defined by the cylindrical polymeric body element so as to prevent rotation of the cylindrical polymeric body element. 
     
     
         18 . A biodegradable container, comprising:
 a unitary polymeric body element including a top portion and a cylindrical body portion, the top portion having a cylindrical neck wherein the cylindrical neck defines an inner surface and an outer surface;   a polymeric bottom element welded to the cylindrical body portion of the unitary polymeric body element; and   a polymeric cap defining an internal rim configured to be received by the inner surface of the cylindrical neck.   
     
     
         19 . The biodegradable container of  claim 18  wherein the polymeric cap includes an external cover having an interior surface, the outer surface of the cylindrical neck and the interior surface of the external cover forming an inner seal. 
     
     
         20 . The biodegradable container of  claim 18  wherein the inner surface of the cylindrical neck defines a tri-start internal thread configured to engage a thread defined by the internal rim of the polymeric cap and form an inner seal. 
     
     
         21 . The biodegradable container of  claim 19  wherein the interior surface of the external cover is tapered so as define a tapered sealing face wherein the tapered sealing face contacts the outer surface of the cylindrical neck when the polymeric cap is in a closed position. 
     
     
         22 . The biodegradable container of  claim 20  wherein the interior surface of the external cover forms an outer seal with the outer surface of the cylindrical neck when the polymeric cap is in a closed position. 
     
     
         23 . A method of producing a biodegradable container, the method comprising:
 injection molding a polymeric material into a unitary polymeric body element including a top portion and a cylindrical body portion, the top portion having a cylindrical neck wherein the cylindrical neck defines an inner surface and an outer surface; and   welding a polymeric bottom element welded to the cylindrical body portion of the unitary polymeric body element.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  further including capping the biodegradable container using a polymeric cap defining an internal rim configured to be received by the inner surface of the cylindrical neck.