BOTTLE WITH COVER MEMBER

There is disclosed a composite container manufactured from a blown glass bottle for packaging product under pressure, such as beer or carbonated beverage. Combined with the glass bottle is a wrap or covering of an organic polymeric material or combination of materials, such as foamed polystyrene, foamed polyethylene, foam-film laminates, or film cured in place from a powder, overlying the exterior of the bottle. The covering or wrap is of variable strength along the axial extent of the bottle. The composite bottle has the thickest or the strongest section of wrap overlying the upper part of the bottle, including the neck and shoulder of the glass wall of the bottle such that the strongest section of the wrap encloses or surrounds that portion of the bottle in the vicinity of the "head space" in the filled package. The head space contains compressed gas released from carbonation in the product, and the gas is at substantial pressure. Should breakage of the glass occur, the fracture pattern frequently extends throughout the bottle and fragments around the "head space" region (neck and shoulder areas) are propelled by the greatest force and at the greatest velocity. In coating the upper part of the bottle surrounding the head space with the thickest or the strongest part of the annular covering, the fragments are satisfactorily contained for a given amount and cost of coating material utilized in the package. The invention provides better safety for given amounts of coating material to be employed.