S&F Ref: 777499 AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name and Address CHEP Australia Limited, of Applicant: Level 40, Gateway, I Macquarie Place, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Actual Inventor(s): Michael Lucas Address for Service: Spruson & Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 35 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) Invention Title: A tray for bottles of at least two different shapes Associated Provisional Application Details: [33] Country: [31] Appl'n No(s): [32] Application Date: AU 2005906816 05 Dec 2005 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 5845c(591131_1) -1 A TRAY FOR BOTTLES OF AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT SHAPES Technical Field The present invention relates to a tray for bottles of at least two different shapes. While the invention has been developed primarily for use as a retaining tray for beverage 5 bottles, it is also well suited to retaining other products, including elongate products that are packaged upright in cartons, as well as canned products and other non-beverage bottled products. Background of the Invention Beverage bottles are conventionally packed in cardboard cartons for distribution to io wholesale and retail outlets, where they are then unpacked and repacked onto shelves for display. Once the bottles are unpacked, the cartons are usually disposed. It is also known to use beverage bottle trays for transporting bottles. The beverage trays are usually configured for a specific bottle shape. Known trays include a top surface including a series of cups for holding the bases of bottles. The bottom surface of the trays is includes a plurality of holes for securing the tops of the bottles. These known trays also allow all of the bottles supported on a tray to be placed onto a store shelf in one action, rather than requiring the bottles to be individually repacked onto the shelf. Beverage bottles come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. However, it can be difficult to provide a beverage tray that caters for bottles of different shapes, as the bottles may 20 have few, if any, common holding points. Despite this difficulty, some manufacturers have attempted to develop beverage bottle trays are adapted to receive bottles of different shapes. Some known trays of this kind include overlapping cups for two bottle sizes on one side of the tray. However, known tray configurations that allow for differently shaped bottles to be supported tend to be less efficient, in terms of packing density, than 25 trays configured for a specific bottle shape. Object of the Invention It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages.
2 Summary of the Invention The present invention provides a tray for bottles of at least two different shapes, said tray comprising a first surface having a plurality of first base locating portions for locating the bases of a plurality of first bottles having a first shape; a second surface, on an opposite side of the tray to said first surface, having a plurality of first top locating apertures for locating the tops of the first bottles; one of the first surface and the second surface including a plurality of second base locating portions for locating the bases of a plurality of second bottles having a second shape different to that of the first bottles, and the other of the first surface and the second surface having a plurality of second top locating apertures having a second shape different to that of the first bottles for locating the tops of the second bottles. Brief Description of the Drawings Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: -3 Figure 1 is a top perspective view of a first embodiment of a tray according to the invention; Figure 2 is a bottom perspective view of the tray of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the top surface of the tray of Figure 1, showing the footprints of 5 two litre milk bottles; Figure 4 is a plan view of the top surface of the tray of Figure 1, showing the footprints of three litre milk bottles; Figure 5 is a plan view of the bottom surface of the tray of Figure 1, showing the footprints of two litre juice bottles; 10 Figure 6 is a plan view of the bottom surface of the tray of Figure 1, showing the footprints of two litre soft drink bottles; Figure 7 is a top perspective view of a second embodiment of a tray according to the invention; Figure 8 is a bottom perspective view of the tray of Figure 7; is Figure 9 is a plan view of the top surface of the tray of Figure 7, showing the footprints of two litre milk bottles; Figure 10 is a plan view of the top surface of the tray of Figure 7, showing the footprints of three litre milk bottles; Figure 11 is a plan view of the top surface of the tray of Figure 7, showing the footprints 20 of two litre soft drink bottles; Figure 12 is a plan view of the bottom surface of the tray of Figure 7, showing the footprints of 1.25 litre soft drink bottles; and Figure 13 is a plan view of the bottom surface of the tray of Figure 7, showing the footprints of two litre juice bottles.
-4 Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments A first embodiment of the tray 10 according to the invention is shown in Figures 1 to 6. The tray 10 includes a first (top) surface 12, as shown in Figure 1, having a plurality of locating portions 14 and 16 for locating the bases of a plurality of beverage bottles (not 5 shown). The tray also includes a second (bottom) surface 20, as shown in Figure 2, on an opposite side of the tray to the first surface 12. The surface 20 has a plurality of locating apertures 22 and 24 for locating the tops of the beverage bottles. The locating portions on the first surface include first 14 and second 16 locating portions, each configured for locating a specific bottle shape. The first locating portions 14 are to adapted for locating the bases of two litre milk bottles, the footprints of which are shown in broken line in Figure 3. The second locating portions 16 are adapted for locating the bases of three litre milk bottles, the footprints of which are shown in broken line in Figure 4. Similarly, the locating apertures on the second surface 20 include first 22 and second 24 is locating apertures, each configured for locating a specific bottle shape. The first locating apertures 22 are adapted for locating the tops of the two litre milk bottles (not shown). The second locating apertures 24 are adapted for locating the tops of the three litre milk bottles (not shown). The second surface also includes third 26 and fourth 28 locating portions, each configured 20 for locating a specific bottle shape. The third locating portions 26 are adapted for locating the bases of two litre soft drink bottles, the footprints of which are shown in broken line in Figure 5. The fourth locating portions 28 are adapted for locating the bases of two litre juice bottles, the footprints of which are shown in broken line in Figure 6. Third 30 and fourth 32 locating apertures are provided on the first surface 22 of the tray 25 20. The third locating apertures 30 are adapted for locating the tops of the two litre soft drink bottles (not shown). The fourth locating apertures 32 are adapted for locating the tops of the two litre juice bottles (not shown). The 2L and 3L milk bottles, the 2L soft drink bottles and the 2L juice bottles (none of which are shown) all have different transverse cross-sectional shapes. The 2L milk 30 bottles have a generally square transverse cross section, whereas the 3L drink bottles have a generally rectangular transverse cross section. The 2L soft drink bottles have a circular -5 transverse cross section and the 2L juice bottles have a generally oblong transverse cross section. A plurality of feet 34 extend from the second surface 20 of the tray 10. The first surface 12 of the tray includes recesses 36 that are engageable by the feet 34 to secure the empty 5 trays 20 together when stacked. In use, a first tray 10 is oriented such that the side with locating portions 14, 16, 26 or 28 corresponding to the shape of the bottles to be packaged is directed upwardly. The bottles (not shown) are then placed into the first tray 10 and the bottle bases are held securely in place by the locating portions 14, 16, 26 or 28. Next, a second tray 10 is oriented such 1o that the side with locating apertures 22, 24, 30 or 32 corresponding to the shape of the bottles to be packaged is directed downwardly. The second tray 10 is then placed over the tops of the bottles to engage the bottle tops with the locating apertures 22, 24, 30 or 32 to hold the bottle tops securely in place. A second embodiment of the tray 40 according to the invention is shown in Figures 7 to 15 13. The tray 40 includes a first (top) surface 42, as shown in Figure 7, having a plurality of locating portions 44, 46 and 48 for locating the bases of a plurality of beverage bottles (not shown). The tray 40 also includes a second (bottom) surface 50, as shown in Figure 8, on an opposite side of the tray to the top surface 42. The surface 50 has a plurality of locating apertures 52 and 54 for locating the tops of the beverage bottles. 20 The locating portions on the top surface include first 44, second 46 and third 48 locating portions, each configured for locating a specific bottle shape. The first locating portions 44 are adapted for locating the bases of two litre milk bottles, the footprints of which are shown in broken line in Figure 9. The second locating portions 46 are adapted for locating the bases of three litre milk bottles, the footprints of which are shown in broken 25 line in Figure 10. The third locating portions 48 are adapted for locating the bases of two litre soft drink bottles, the footprints of which are shown in broken line in Figure 11. The locating apertures on the bottom surface include first 52 and second 54 locating apertures, each configured for locating a specific bottle shape. The first locating apertures 52 are adapted for locating the tops of the two litre milk bottles (not shown) and the tops 30 of the two litre soft drink bottles (not shown). The second locating apertures 54 are adapted for locating the tops of the three litre milk bottles (not shown).
-6 The bottom surface also includes fourth 56 and fifth 58 locating portions, each configured for locating a specific bottle shape. The fourth locating portions 56 are adapted for locating the bases of 1.25 litre soft drink bottles, the footprints of which are shown in broken line in Figure 12. The fifth locating portions 58 are adapted for locating the bases 5 of two litre juice bottles, the footprints of which are shown in broken line in Figure 13. Third 60 and fourth 62 locating apertures are provided on the top surface 42 of the tray 40. The third locating apertures 60 are adapted for locating the tops of the 1.25 litre soft drink bottles (not shown). The fourth locating apertures 62 are adapted for locating the tops of the two litre juice bottles (not shown). 10 The 2L and 3L milk bottles, the 1.25L and 2L soft drink bottles and the 2L juice bottles (none of which are shown) all have different transverse cross-sectional shapes. The 2L milk bottles have a generally square transverse cross section, whereas the 3L drink bottles have a generally rectangular transverse cross section. The 1.25 and 2L soft drink bottles have a circular transverse cross section. However, the 1.25L soft drink bottles have a is smaller diameter than the 2L soft drink bottles. The 2L juice bottles have a generally oblong transverse cross section. A plurality of feet 64 extend from the bottom surface of the tray. The top surface of the tray includes recesses 66 that are engageable by the feet 64 to secure the empty trays together when stacked. 20 In use, a first tray 40 is oriented such that the side with locating portions 44, 46, 48, 56 or 58 corresponding to the shape of the bottles to be packaged is directed upwardly. The bottles (not shown) are then placed into the first tray 40 and the bottle bases are held securely in place by the locating portions 44, 46, 48, 56 or 58. Next, a second tray 40 is oriented such that the side with locating apertures 52, 54, 60 or 62 corresponding to the 25 shape of the bottles to be packaged is directed downwardly. The second tray 40 is then placed over the tops of the bottles to engage the bottle tops with the locating apertures 52, 54, 60 or 62 to hold the bottle tops securely in place. It will be appreciated that the illustrated embodiments provide a significant advantage over the prior art by allowing a single tray design to be used for packaging beverage 30 bottles of different shapes. Moreover, the trays minimise handling during packaging, unpackaging and display of beverage bottles, as the bottles are simply removed from a -7 carton by lifting the tray. The tray is then placed on a shelf for display, where the tray keeps the bottles stable and neatly arranged. In contrast, prior art trays were not well suited for supporting beverage bottles during unpacking from cartons or on a display shelf. The illustrated trays also improve packing density, as the locating portions are 5 configured to allow the sides of adjacent bottled to support each other laterally, which allows the bottles to be packaged closely together, while the tray supports the remaining sides. While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be appreciated that it may also be embodied in many other forms.