1. A method comprising:
blow-molding a PET plastic container in an as-formed condition, the container in the as-formed condition comprising:
a threaded finish having a mouth;
a shoulder connecting the finish to a substantially cylindrical sidewall, the substantially cylindrical sidewall extending from the shoulder to a circular base, the base having a diameter D greater than a diameter of the sidewall, and the sidewall adapted to neatly support a wrap-around label without unwanted voids beneath the label;
an upper label bumper adjacent the shoulder;
a lower label bumper adjacent the base;
the base of the container in the as-formed condition comprising:
an outer annular wall having an outer portion extending from the lower label bumper to the standing surface and an inner portion, forming a standing ring therebetween;
a continuous inner annular wall radially inside of the standing ring and extending inwardly from said inner portion of the outer annular wall and having an inner periphery, at least a portion of the inner annular wall forming a flex panel, the flex panel in the as-formed condition positioned in a first position in which at least a portion of the flex panel is inclined in a radially inward direction in the range of five to six degrees upwardly relative to a horizontal plane P extending through the standing ring, the inner annular wall comprising a downwardly curved concave portion adjacent the inner portion of the outer annular wall and above the plane P of the standing ring;
an anti-inverting dome projecting upwardly into the container, the inner periphery of the inner annular wall merging into the anti-inverting dome via a first annular hinge, the anti-inverting dome having a conical lower portion adjacent the first annular hinge;
filling the container with a hot product;
sealing and capping the filled container;
in response to elevated pressure from within the filled, sealed and capped container, moving the flex panel of the filled, sealed and capped container downwardly from the first position into a second position B below the first position and above the standing ring to relieve pressure in the sealed and capped container, the elevated pressure pushing the flex panel downwardly into the second position and the anti-inverting dome travelling downwardly with the flex panel and maintaining a generally constant shape regardless of the pressures experienced within the filled, sealed and capped container, the anti-inverting dome preventing complete inversion and failure of the inner annular wall;
cooling the container after the filling, sealing and capping;
reducing a volume of the sealed container by moving the flex panel upwardly into a third position C above the first and second positions in response to a vacuum created by the cooling, the vacuum pulling the flex panel upwardly into the third position;
relieving the vacuum by reducing the volume of the sealed container;
the sidewall neatly supporting a wrap-around label without unwanted voids beneath the label;
preventing permanent distortion of the filled, sealed and capped container by moving the flex panel up and down, above and below the as-formed position, between and amongst the first, second, and third positions and limiting the flex panel to flex only within a desired range of movement, the desired range defined by the second and third positions.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the hot product is fluent.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the hot product is food.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the hot product is a hot fluid food product.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the elevated pressure is caused by said filling with the hot product and said sealing and capping the container.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after said filling with the hot product and said sealing and capping the container, subjecting the filled, sealed and capped container to a pasteurization process, the elevated pressure being caused by said pasteurization process.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after said filling with the hot product and said sealing and capping the container, subjecting the filled, sealed and capped container to a retort process, the elevated pressure being caused by said retort process.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
after said filling with the hot product and said sealing and capping the container, subjecting the filled, sealed and capped container to a pasteurization process; and
after said filling with the hot product and said sealing and capping the container, subjecting the filled, sealed and capped container to a retort process.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the flex panel inclined in a radially inward direction in the range of five to six degrees upwardly extends from the anti-inverting dome to the downwardly curved concave portion.
10. A method comprising:
blow-molding a PET plastic container in an as-formed condition, the container in the as-formed condition comprising:
a threaded finish having a mouth;
a shoulder connecting the finish to a substantially cylindrical sidewall, the substantially cylindrical sidewall extending from the shoulder to a base, the base having a diameter D greater than a diameter of the sidewall, and the sidewall adapted to neatly support a wrap-around label without unwanted voids beneath the label;
an upper label bumper adjacent the shoulder;
a lower label bumper adjacent the base;
the base of the container in the as-formed condition comprising:
an outer annular wall having an outer portion extending from the lower label bumper to the standing surface and an inner portion, forming a standing ring therebetween;
a continuous inner annular wall radially inside of the standing ring and extending inwardly from said inner portion of the outer annular wall and having an inner periphery, at least a portion of the inner annular wall forming a flex panel, the flex panel positioned in a first position in which at least a portion of the flex panel is inclined in a radially inward direction upwardly relative to a horizontal plane P extending through the standing ring;
an anti-inverting dome projecting upwardly into the container, the inner periphery of the inner annular wall merging into the anti-inverting dome via a first annular hinge, the anti-inverting dome having a conical lower portion adjacent the first annular hinge;
filling the container with a hot product;
sealing and capping the filled container;
in response to elevated pressure from within the filled, sealed and capped container, moving the flex panel of the filled, sealed and capped container downwardly from the first position into a second position B below the first position and above the standing ring, the anti-inverting dome travelling with the flex panel and maintaining a generally constant shape regardless of the pressures experienced within the filled, sealed and capped container, the anti-inverting dome preventing complete inversion and failure of the inner annular wall;
cooling the container after the filling, sealing and capping;
reducing a volume of the sealed container by moving the flex panel upwardly into a third position C above the first and second positions in response to a vacuum created by the cooling;
relieving the vacuum by reducing the volume of the sealed container;
the sidewall neatly supporting a wrap-around label without unwanted voids beneath the label;
preventing permanent distortion of the filled, sealed and capped container by moving the flex panel up and down, above and below the as-formed position, between the first, second, and third positions and limiting the flex panel to flex only within a desired range of movement, the desired range defined by the second and third positions.
11. The method of claim 10,
wherein the inner annular wall comprises a downwardly curved concave portion adjacent the inner portion of the outer annular wall, and
wherein the portion of the flex panel inclined in a radially inward direction upwardly extends from the anti-inverting dome to the downwardly curved concave portion.
12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
after said filling with the hot product and sealing and capping the container, subjecting the filled, sealed and capped container to a pasteurization process; and
after said filling with the hot product and sealing and capping the container, subjecting the filled, sealed and capped container to a retort process.
13. A method comprising:
forming plastic container in an as-formed condition, the container in the as-formed condition comprising:
a shoulder connecting to a substantially cylindrical sidewall, the substantially cylindrical sidewall extending from the shoulder to a substantially circular base;
an upper label bumper adjacent the shoulder;
a lower label bumper adjacent the base;
the base of the container in the as-formed condition comprising:
an outer annular wall having an outer portion extending from the lower label bumper to a standing surface and an inner portion, forming a standing ring therebetween;
an inner annular wall radially inside of the standing ring and extending inwardly from said inner portion of the outer annular wall and having an inner periphery, at least a portion of the inner annular wall forming a flex panel, the flex panel in the as-formed condition positioned in a first position in which at least a portion of the flex panel is at an angle relative to a horizontal plane extending through the standing ring;
an anti-inverting dome projecting upwardly into the container, the inner periphery of the inner annular wall merging into the anti-inverting dome via a first annular hinge, the anti-inverting dome having a conical lower portion adjacent the first annular hinge;
filling the container with a hot product;
sealing and capping the filled container;
moving the flex panel downwardly from the as-formed position into a second position below the first position, the anti-inverting dome travelling downwardly with the flex panel and maintaining a generally constant shape regardless of the pressures experienced within the filled, sealed and capped container, the anti-inverting dome preventing complete inversion and failure of the inner annular wall;
cooling the container after the filling, sealing and capping;
reducing a volume of the sealed container by moving the flex panel upwardly into a third position in response to vacuum created by the cooling, the vacuum pulling the flex panel upwardly into the third position;
the sidewall supporting a wrap-around label;
preventing permanent distortion of the filled, sealed and capped container by moving the flex panel between and amongst the first, second, and third positions.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the angle is in the range of five to six degrees relative to the horizontal plane P extending through the standing ring.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the angle is five degrees or greater, relative to the horizontal plane P extending through the standing ring.
16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
after said filling with the hot product and sealing and capping the container, subjecting the filled, sealed and capped container to a pasteurization process; and
after said filling with the hot product and sealing and capping the container, subjecting the filled, sealed and capped container to a retort process.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An antenna system, comprising a dielectric resonator and means for simultaneously supplying an electrical signal to first and second points in the dielectric resonator, with a phase difference between said first and second points, such that the first point couples to a desired mode of the dielectric resonator antenna and the second points couples to the desired mode of the dielectric resonator and such that a frequency response of the resonator has two nulls in a return loss characteristic of the frequency response, wherein the means for supplying an electrical signal comprise an electrical feed line, a first pad connected to a surface of the dielectric resonator, and a second pad connected to said surface of the dielectric resonator, and further comprising a microstrip line connecting the first and second pads.
2. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dielectric resonator comprises slots to allow a magnetic field generated around the electrical feed line to couple into the dielectric resonator.
3. An antenna system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the electrical feed line comprises a first path leading to a first slot in the dielectric resonator, and a second path leading to a second slot in the dielectric resonator.
4. An antenna system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first path terminates underneath the first slot in the dielectric resonator, and the second path terminates underneath the second slot in the dielectric resonator.
5. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for supplying an electrical signal comprise probes.
6. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1, comprising means for supplying the electrical signal to the first and second points with a phase difference in the range of 140\xb0-220\xb0 therebetween.
7. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1, comprising means for supplying the electrical signal to the first and second points with a phase difference therebetween, such that a frequency response of the antenna system has two nulls in its return loss characteristic, spaced such that an operating bandwidth of the antenna system is effectively broadened.
8. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1, comprising means for supplying the electrical signal to the first and second points with a phase difference therebetween, such that a frequency response of the antenna system has two nulls in its return loss characteristic, spaced such that the antenna system operates as a dual band antenna.
9. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first pad is connected to the surface of the dielectric resonator at a first end region thereof.
10. An antenna system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the second pad is connected to the surface of the dielectric resonator at a second end region thereof, opposite the first end region.
11. An antenna system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the second pad is connected to the surface of the dielectric resonator system at a second region thereof, the position of the second region being chosen such that a desired HEM mode is excited.
12. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a tuning screw located adjacent the dielectric resonator.
13. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising at least one additional pad located underneath said surface of the dielectric resonator system to provide support therefor.
14. An antenna system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second points each couple to a HEM mode of the dielectric resonator.
15. An antenna system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first and second points in the dielectric resonator are chosen such that a higher order HEM mode is excited, and such that the antenna effectively forms a solid dielectric array.
16. An antenna system as claimed in claim 15, wherein an end face of the dielectric resonator acts as a mirror.
17. An antenna system as claimed in claim 16, wherein said end face of the dielectric resonator is coated with an electrical conductor.
18. An antenna system as claimed in claim 16, wherein said end face of the dielectric resonator is coated with a metal.
19. A method of operation of an antenna system, comprising a dielectric resonator, the method comprising simultaneously supplying an electrical signal to first and second points in the dielectric resonator, with a phase difference between said first and second points, such that the first point couples to a desired mode of the dielectric resonator and the second points couples to the desired mode of the dielectric resonator, and such that a frequency response of the antenna system has two nulls in a return loss characteristic of the frequency response; wherein supplying an electrical signal comprise supplying the signal through an electrical feed line, connecting a first pad to a surface of the dielectric resonator, and connecting a second pad to said surface of the dielectric resonator, and further connecting the first and second pads with a microstrip line.
20. A method as claimed in claim 19, comprising coupling the electrical signal to the electric field in the dielectric resonator.
21. A method as claimed in claim 19, comprising coupling the electrical signal to the magnetic field in the dielectric resonator.
22. A method as claimed in claim 19, comprising supplying the electrical signal to the first and second points with a phase difference in the range of 140\xb0-220\xb0 therebetween.