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US-20260124667-A1 - REDUCING MATERIAL USAGE AND PLASTIC-DEFORMATION STEPS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ALUMINUM CONTAINERS

US20260124667A1US 20260124667 A1US20260124667 A1US 20260124667A1US-20260124667-A1

Abstract

Provided is a process of making an aluminum bottle, the process including: obtaining sheet aluminum, the sheet aluminum having a difference between ultimate tensile strength and yield strength between 3.31 thousand pounds per square inch (ksi) and 8.0 ksi, and the sheet aluminum having a yield strength between 33.1 ksi and 42 ksi; cutting a blank from the sheet aluminum; plastically deforming the blank into a cup with three or fewer drawing steps; and necking the cup to form an aluminum bottle with a neck.

Inventors

  • Brad Deuser
  • Scott Kellerman
  • Mark Schremmer
  • Willie Daies
  • Craig Buschkoetter

Assignees

  • ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251104

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method of making an aluminum bottle, the method comprising: obtaining sheet aluminum, the sheet aluminum having a difference between ultimate tensile strength and yield strength between 3.31 thousand pounds per square inch (ksi) and 8.0 ksi; cutting a blank from the sheet aluminum; plastically deforming the blank into a cup with three or fewer drawing steps; and necking the cup to form an aluminum bottle with a neck.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the blank is plastically deformed into the cup with two or fewer drawing steps; and the sheet aluminum has a yield strength between 33.1 ksi and 42 ksi.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum bottle has an aspect ratio of 3 or greater.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the blank is plastically deformed into the cup with two or fewer drawing steps.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum bottle has an aspect ratio of 3.5 or greater.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the blank is plastically deformed into the cup with two drawing steps.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the aluminum bottle has an aspect ratio of 4 or greater; and the blank is plastically deformed into the cup with two drawing steps.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the blank is a disk-shaped blank with a diameter between 2 and 10 inches and a thickness between 0.0120 inches and 0.0197 inches.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the blank is a disk-shaped blank with a diameter between 6 and 7 inches and a thickness between 0.0160 inches and 0.0180 inches.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: diameters of the cup and of the aluminum bottle are between 2 and 2.5 inches; a height of the aluminum bottle is between 7.48 and 9.37 inches; the aluminum bottle has a cylindrical portion with a wall thickness of between 0.00575 and 0.00800 inches; the aluminum bottle has a weight of between 24 to 27 grams; and the aluminum bottle has a domed bottom with a dome depth of between 0.400 and 1.00 inches.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the aluminum bottle has a cylindrical portion with a wall thickness of between 00600 and 0.0070 inches.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the aluminum bottle has a cylindrical portion with a first wall thickness of 0.00645 inches +/−0.00020 inches; and the neck has a second wall thickness along at least part of the neck of between 0.00800 and 0.00900 inches.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the aluminum bottle has a cylindrical portion with a first wall thickness of 0.00645 inches +/−0.00020 inches.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: an annealing step at a temperature of between 100° C. to 400° C. for a duration of between 3 to 30 minutes.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: shaping a threaded portion on the neck, wherein the threaded portion has a sidewall thickness of between 0.00850 to 0.00950 inches.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: dispensing a liquid into the aluminum bottle, the bottle being packaging for the liquid.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising: pressurizing the liquid in the aluminum bottle to between 30 and 110 psi.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the neck has a frusto-conical shape; and a height of the neck accounts for more than 15% of a height of the aluminum bottle.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the drawing steps have a 35% or greater drawing rate.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the drawing steps have a drawing rate of around 40%.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/017,440, titled REDUCING MATERIAL USAGE AND PLASTIC-DEFORMATION STEPS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ALUMINUM CONTAINERS, filed 10 Sep. 2020, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Pat. App. 62/898,542, titled REDUCING MATERIAL USAGE AND PLASTIC-DEFORMATION STEPS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ALUMINUM CONTAINERS, filed 10 Sep. 2019. The entire content of each afore-mentioned patent filing is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. BACKGROUND 1. Field The present disclosure relates generally to aluminum containers and, more specifically, the reduction material usage and plastic-deformation steps in the manufacture of aluminum containers. 2. Description of the Related Art Aluminum containers have a variety of uses. Examples include recyclable beverage containers, like aluminum cans and aluminum bottles. Other examples include reusable aluminum containers for liquids, like re-usable water bottles, canteens, and the like. In some cases, aluminum containers are used to contain pressurized gasses, like in aerosol cans. SUMMARY The following is a non-exhaustive listing of some aspects of the present techniques. These and other aspects are described in the following disclosure. Some aspects include a process of making an aluminum bottle, the process including: obtaining sheet aluminum, the sheet aluminum having a difference between ultimate tensile strength and yield strength between 3.31 thousand pounds per square inch (ksi) and 8.0 ksi and the sheet aluminum having a yield strength between 33.1 ksi and 42 ksi; cutting a blank from the sheet aluminum; plastically deforming the blank into a cup with three or fewer drawing steps; and necking the cup to form an aluminum bottle with a neck. Some aspects include a bottle made with the above process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above-mentioned aspects and other aspects of the present techniques will be better understood when the present application is read in view of the following figures in which like numbers indicate similar or identical elements: FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating some embodiments of a method of manufacturing a container that holds liquids, in accordance with some embodiments of the present techniques; FIG. 2 is a cross sectional elevation view that illustrates various intermediate stages of formation of a container, in accordance with some embodiments of the present techniques; and FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of a container made of an aluminum, in accordance with some embodiments of the present techniques. While the present techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. The drawings may not be to scale. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the present techniques to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present techniques as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS To mitigate the problems described herein, the inventors had to both invent solutions and, in some cases just as importantly, recognize problems overlooked (or not yet foreseen) by others in the fields of metallurgy and container manufacturing. Indeed, the inventors wish to emphasize the difficulty of recognizing those problems that are nascent and will become much more apparent in the future should trends in industry continue as the inventors expect. Further, because multiple problems are addressed, it should be understood that some embodiments are problem-specific, and not all embodiments address every problem with traditional systems described herein or provide every benefit described herein. That said, improvements that solve various permutations of these problems are described below. Aluminum containers are more expensive to manufacture than is desirable. Contributors to cost include the amount of aluminum used per container and the number of plastic deformation steps used to make aluminum containers. Reducing the amount of material has been found to reduce yield, and consolidating plastic-deformation operations into fewer steps has been found to have similar issues. Often, the material splits when deformed too severely, and this is aggravated by many aluminum container designs have particularly severe aspect ratios and complex shapes. The challenge is particularly acute for aluminum bottles, which often have a larger aspect ratio than cans and involve more extensive plastic deformation of the metal to form frusto-conical necks accounting for more than 15% of the container's height. Greater work-hardening involved in transforming blanks into high-aspect ratio containers is beli