| ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadeine-Styrene) |
Mixes of polystyrene or
styrene-acryloneitrile copolymers with butadeine-acrylonitrile
rubber. |
| Acceptable Quality
Level (AQL) |
The highest proportion or
variance allowed in a lot or batch that, for the purposes of
acceptance sampling, can be considered satisfactory as a
process average. |
| Acrylic |
Polymethylmethacralate |
| Annealing |
A process of keeping a
material at a temperature just below its melting point to
permit stress relaxation without shape distortion. It is
often used on molded bottles to relieve stresses set up by
flow into the mold. |
| Autoclave |
Steam sterilization
normally conducted for 30 minutes in a closed container at 250
degrees Fahrenheit under 30 lbs. of pressure. |
| Barrier
Bottle |
A bottle that is treated,
co-extruded, or fabricated from barrier material to contain
industrial chemical products, food products, and the like. |
| Base Radius |
The radius at a bottle's
base which connects the body (or wall) of a bottle with its
bottom bearing surface. The size is dependent on the
design and geometry of the bottle. |
| Bleed |
To expel color when in
contact with a solvent or water; unwanted movement of certain
materials in a plastic to the surface of the finished bottle
or into an adjacent material. |
| Bloom |
(1) An increase in
diameter of the parison as it comes from the extruder die(s)
in the blow molding process. (2) Also used to
describe a surface coating on a plastic bottle that comes from
ingredients such as plasticizers, lubricants, antistatic
agents |
| Blow Molding |
A fabrication method in
which a hot plastic hollow tube (parison) is placed between
the halves (cavity) of a mold and forced to take the shape of
the mold cavity through the use of internal pressure which is
usually air. |
| C
Dimension |
Opening control diameter
at the top of the container finish. |
| Capacity |
(1) The total amount of
volume inside a bottle: the overflow capacity. (2)
Also, the amount of space in a bottle designated for an
specific amount of product. |
| Chemical Resistance |
After contact with
chemical agents, the ability of a material to retain
appearanace and utility. |
| Choked Neck |
A constricted or narrow
opening in a bottle's neck. |
| Clarity |
The lack of cloudiness or
haze in a plastic material. |
| Closure |
A device that seals the
opening of a bottle to prevent the loss of the bottle's
contents. |
| Color Concentrate |
A mixture of dye or
pigment incorporated into a specified amount of plastic.
This pigmented or colored plastic is then mixed into larger
quantities of plastic material to be used for molding.
The "concentrate" is added to the bulk of plastic in
measured. |
| Contamination |
Unfamiliar material in a
bottle. |
| Degradation |
A harmful change in the
chemical configuration of a plastic. |
| Discoloration |
Any mutation from the
original color, often caused by light exposure, irradiation,
overheating, or chemical attack. |
| Drop Test |
Any test process in which
the bottle being tested is dropped in a certain way for a set
number of times or until the bottle fails from impact. |
| E
Dimension |
The measurement across the
root of the threads on a threaded bottle neck (finish). |
| Emboss (-ed), (-ing) |
Raised lettering or design
on the surface of a bottle. |
| Ethylene Plastics |
Plastics based on
copolymers or polymers of ethylene. |
| Extrusion |
The consolidating and
forcing of a plastic material through an opening in a fairly
continuous manner. |
| Finish |
(1) The plastic forming
the orifice of a bottle designed to accomodate a specified
closure. (2) The final surface structure of a bottle. |
| Fitment |
A mechanism used to
achieve a certain purpose; for example, a dropper, an orifice
reducer, a sprinkler, a powder shaker, and the like. |
| Flame Treatment |
A process of rendering
inert thermoplastic bottles amenable to lacquers, paints,
inks, adhesives, and the like in which the bottle is submerged
in an open flame to promote oxidation of the surface of the
bottle. |
| Gloss |
The shine or luster of a
material's surface. |
| H
Dimension |
(1) The vertical distance
between the inside top of the closure at the sealing area and
the bottom (open end) of the closure without including any
"linerless" seal, ribs, membranes, or any other
sealing elements or any liner (if used). (2) On a
threaded |
| HDPE |
High Density Polyethylene. |
| Hot Stamping |
Engraving procedures for
making plastics in which roll leaf is stamped with heated
metal dies onto a bottle or, by means of felt rolls, ink is
supplied to type and impressed into a bottle by heat and
pressure, leaving the marking compound in the identific |
| I
Dimension |
A specified minimum
dimension inside the bottle neck that will allow ample
clearance for filler tubes to enter the bottle neck. |
| Injection Blow Molding |
A blow molding process in
which the parison to be blown is formed by injection molding. |
| Injection Mold |
A mold into which a
plasticated substance is presented from an exterior heating
cylinder. |
| In-Mold Labelling (I.M.L.) |
A method of forming a
labeled bottle in which a label is placed in the mold and then
the parison is blown to form a labeled bottle. |
| L
Dimension |
Measured from the top of
the finish to the point where diameter "E" extended
parallel to the centerline intersects the bead (for example,
SP-410 and SP-415 finishes). |
| LDPE |
Low Density Polyethylene. |
| Label Panel |
The part of the body of a
bottle to which labels are attached or decoration is
imprinted. |
| Liner |
A layer of cork,
composition, paper, and the like held in a closure to provide
a sealing surface against the finish of a container. |
| M Style
Thread |
A type of buttress thread
contour (cross section) for use with plastic closures.
The profile of the thread is essentially a right triangle:
one of the two legs that form the right angle is part of the
vertical wall of the neck (finish) while the other is |
| Metalizing |
The process of applying a
thin layer of metal to a non-metallic surface by chemical
deposition or by surface exposure to vaporized metal in a
vacuum chamber. |
| Oblong |
A specific shape. A
bottle with a rectangular cross-section perpendicular to the
major axis. |
| Offset (Printing) |
A printing procedure in
which ink is transferred from a receptacle to a printing
plate; from the inked printing plate the image is printed on a
cylindrical rubber roll (blanket) and then transferred to the
object to be printed. |
| Opaque |
A way of describing a
material or substance that will not transmit light. It
is the opposite of transparent; materials that are neither
opaque nor transparent are sometimes described as semi-opaque,
but are actually better classified as translucent q.v. |
| Orange Peel |
An inadvertantly rough
bottle surface. |
| Oval |
A particular shape.
A bottle which has an elliptical cross section perpendicular
to the major axis. |
| Paneling |
The evolution of a
decreased pressure inside a bottle during aging or storage
causing the side wall collapse (distortion) of a container. |
| Parting Line |
The portion of the bottle
where the halves of the mold met in closing. |
| PC |
Polycarbonate |
| PET (Polyethylene
Terephthalate) |
Known as thermoplastic
polyester, this substance is able to exist in either an
amorphous or highly crystalline state. The latter is
necessary for extruding the material, and the former permits
it to be oriented. |
| Pinhole |
A very tiny hole in a
plastic bottle. |
| Plastic |
(noun): One of many
high-polymeric materials, of both natural and synthetic
products, with the exception of the rubbers. At some
point in its manufacture, every plastic has the ability to
flow under heat and pressure. (adjective) Made of
plastic; able |
| Polyethylene (PE) |
A polyolefin composed of
polymers of ethylene which is usually a transluscent, tough,
waxy solid unaffected by water and a large range of chemicals.
Low density, medium density, and high density are the three
general classifications of Polyethylene. |
| Polystyrene (PS) |
A thermoplastic substance
derived from the polymerization of styrene (vinyl benzene)
that is non-toxic, tasteless, and odorless, with good
classification and dielectric properties; it has exceptional
water and weather resistance in addition to resistance |
| Post Mold Labeling (P.M.L.) |
Any method of labeling
which occurs after the bottle is blown. |
| Preform |
An injection-molded
parison which is blow molded in a second phase into a plastic
bottle. |
| PP |
Polypropylene |
| Pressure Sensitive
Label |
A die cut label that is
applied to a bottle by mild pressure from a web on which it is
carried. |
| Prototype Mold |
A simplified mold
frequently made from a light metal casting alloy or epoxy
resin to produce preliminary bottles. |
| PS |
Polystyrene |
| Polyvinyl Chloride
(PVC) |
A thermoplastic substance
made up of vinyl chloride; a colorless solid with prominent
resistance to alcohols, water, and concentrated acids and
alkalies. Classified as: Plasticized and Unplasticized. |
| Recessed
Panel |
A bottle design in which
the labeling area is indented or recessed. Also see
"Label Panel. |
| Recycled Plastic |
A plastic prepared from
cleared and reground used goods. |
| Resin |
Any of a class of solid or
semi-solid organic products of natural or synthetic origin,
typically of high molecular weight, with no specific melting
point. Most resins are Polymers. |
| S
Dimension |
Locates the position of
the bottle thread in relation to the top of the finish.
It is a vertical distance from the top of the finish to the
intersection of the finish wall and the top of the first part
of the thread where full depth contour exists. |
| SAN (Styrene
Acrylonitrile) |
Thermoplastic copolymer
with good scratch, chemical, stiffness, and stress-crack
resistance. |
| Shark Skin |
A container's surface
irregularity in the form of finely-spaced sharp ridges as a
result of the relaxation effect of the melt at the die exit.
Also see "Orange Peel". |
| Shoulder |
The section of a bottle
between the neck (finish) and the main body. |
| Shrinkage |
The dimensional
decrease of a bottle after being molded, generally caused by
cooling and the ensuing contraction of the plastic material. |
Silk Screen Printing
(Screen Printing) |
(Screen Process
Decorating) A printing method that, in its simplist form,
involves laying a pattern of an insoluble material as an
outline on a finely woven fabric, enabling the ink that is
drawn across the screen to pass through the screen. |
| Sleeve Label |
A decorated, plastic
sleeve that fits over and then onto plastic bottles. |
| T
Dimension |
The outside diameter of
the thread helix on a bottle finish. |
| Thermoplastic |
(noun): A material
that will continually soften when heated and harden when
cooled. Most polymers used for bottles are
thermoplastics. (adjective): Able to be
continually softened by heating and hardened by cooling. |
| Vinyl |
The informal, generic term
for any of the vinyl resins. |
| W
Dimension |
The width (vertical
height) of the bead on certain bottle finishes. |
