CA1133860A - Molded case for returnable beverage bottles - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure The disclosed case is of the type integrally molded from thermo-plastic resin. At least one separator column is subdivided into partial pillars rising from the floor of the case for separating bottles in the case sufficiently to prevent breakage in handling and transportation. The respective column is subdivided by a gap so that bottles can be accep-ted together with a carrier or minicase, with one internal wall of one carrier or minicase or one external wall each of two carriers or mini-cases being slid into the gap of the column. The improvements in the case include that the pillars have singlewebbed profiled walls, the one surface of said profiled wall facing the side walls of the box structure being part of said side faces of said column and the other surface of said profiled wall being part of said gap configuration; the upper mouth of the gap can be shaped as a slot so as to facilitate insertion of the carrier or minicase and to locate and adjust its walls; there are verti-cal reinforcement corrugations for stabilizing the pillars; a web of material of reduced length fills the gap between the facing edges of the pillars adjacent the floor; the pillars are anchored to a floor lattice by anchoring points which include at least points located on the outside of the pillars directly opposite inner reinforcement ribs. These features stabilizing the spacing between the pillars, so that they do not pull toward each other as a result of stresses developing after removal from the mold.

Description

11338~0 Background of the Invention The present invention relates to molded thermoplastic resin cases for transport and handling of beverage bottles, particularly those suited to receive bottles which are in a carrier or minicase.

Plastic cases for beverage bottles are, for instance, rectangular and have side walls and a floor which is a latticework of floor support ribs. The floor is made this way to minimize the weight of the case, to minimize any accumulation of debris in the case, and to make it easier to wash out. The inner space in the case is somehow divided into bottle receiving compartments suited to the bottle size to be accepted by it.

In one type of case the inner space is divided into compartments by a number of columns which extend vertically from the floor. The columns have a roughly cross-shaped cross-section and are placed each so that they extend vertically in the space between a group of four bottles t~o keep the bottles spaced sufficiently that they do not break when they are jostled. In some cases of this type, the columns are slotted in at least one direction, paral lel to the side wal Is to form a grou~p of two or four facing double-walled pillars. This permits bottles to be accepted together with a hand carrier, such as a "six-pack" carrier of cardboard. Such case is described, for example, in the U.S. patent 4,071,162 which is assigned to the same assignee as that of the rights to the present invention. One or more wal Is of the carrier are sl id .~ .

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into al igned slots of the columns. The columns enter the carrier through openings in the bottom of the carrier. The columns thereby supplement the protection against breakage which is afforded by the carrier alone.
When the bottles are returned empty without the carrier, they can be returned alone to the case and are then simi larly protected by the pillars. This protection is very important, since inadequately protected empty bottles can easily develop hair-line factures which render them unsuitable for refilling, but which are very difficult to reliably detect.

A persistent problem with cases of the type described above having at least one slotted column has been that with certain confi-gurations of the floor, particularly a cartesian or rectangular floor lattice, the pi I lars of a column move together after the molding of the case, thereby impairing the loading of a carrier into the case due to insufficient slot clearance for readily accepting the carrier wall in the slot. This reduced slot clearance is a result of warping which occurs upon cooling of the case after demolding. Yet, for material economy and other structural reasons it is often preferred to use, for instance, a floor configuration of the type described above.

Summary of the I nvention In accordance with the present invention, the pillars and even-tually their attachment to the floor of a novel case are such that there is no significant dimensional change of the gap between the pi I lars of one column after case demolding. Several features in combination provide the dimensional stabi I ity for the gap or slot. The single-webbed ,~

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profi led pi I lars are open on their facing sides and have preferably inner reinforcement ribs extending upwards. Near the bottom of the gap and on each side there is a short web filling in the gap. The anchor-ing points which fix the pillars to the floor include at least points located on the outside of the pillars directly opposite the reinforcement.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of a case in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 isw a cross-sectional exposed side view of one half of the case of Fig. 1, with a carrier shown in one side compartment.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the bottom of the case of Figs. 1 and

2 showing the anchoring of the pillars of the case to the floor lattice.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a section of the bottle case in the area of a column, namely in the upper half of the drawing as with the bottle case according to Figs. 1 to 3 and in the lower half of the drawing with a modified embodiment of the outer faces of the pillars of the col umn .

Fig. S is a plan view corresponding to that of Fig. 4 with a quarter-section representation in the quadrant at the bottom to the right, the outer faces of the pillars of the column being selected to be the same as in the lower representation of the drawings in Fig. 4, .i'.', il338~0 and additionally instead of two pillars as in Fig. 4 here four pillars being provided for forming a cross-shaped gap in the column.

Fig. 6 is a lateral view of the column shown in the lower half of the drawing in Fig. 4 and in Fig. 5, with the case floor underneath the column being shown in section.

Fig. 7 is again a representation corresponding to that of Fig. 4, showing another preferred embodiment which as in Fig. 4 has two pi I lars of the column but whose cross-sections are selected to be so different that only one p;llar has gap-forming extensions reaching into the area of the centers of bottles to be inserted; the right half drawing corresponds to the upper half drawing in Fig. 4 and the left half drawing corresponds to the lower half drawing in Fig. 4, in both embodi-ments the central area of the outer face of the pillar, Iying opposite the respective bottle, not being separately anchored to the floor, as is the case in the preceding Figures.

Fig. 8 is a variant of the left half drawing in Fig. 7 with respective symmetrical completion in the respective view with the pecu-liarity that four pillars are provided forming a cross-shaped gap within the column.

Fig. 9 is a lateral view of the column of Fig. 7 or Fig. 8 represented in the lower area as par~ial sectional view and in the area of the case floor underneath the column as a complete sectional view .

";`1 ' ~ .

Fig. lO is again a view of a column as shown in the preceding Figures 4, 5, 7 and 8 of another embodiment in which the column is basical Iy designed as in the case of Fig. 8 with a somewhat modified column shape, but with anchoring of the central areas of the outer faces of the pillars in the case floor.

Fig. 11 is again a representation as in Fig. lO of another embodi-ment of a column in which, as in the case of Fig. 8, four pillars are provided without central anchoring to the case floor, while the gap- -forming walls of each pillar being reinforced relative to each other in any height that may t,e selected.

Fig. 12 is a lateral view of the column of Fig. ll with a sectional view in the case floor underneath the column.

Fig. 13 is the same view as in Fig. l l, showing another column here comprising three pillars which form a three-armed gap within the column and are each separately and centrally anchored to the case floor.

Description of a preferred Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention is the novel case lO shown in the Figs. 1-3 of the drawings. Referring now to Fig. l, the case lO has a rectangular configuration with two elongated side walls 12 wnich are mutually parallel and spaced from one another and two other side wal Is ~end wal Is) 14 which join together the ends of ;, il;~38~0 the side walls 12. Both the side walls 12 and the end walls 14 have hand holes 16 in them to permit lifting of the case 10 by any wall.
At various locations on the side and the end wal Is 12, 14 there are provided sets of locking ribs 18 which prevent the case 10 from sliding back and forth or up and down relative to another case of a similar nature pressed against it in a stacked arrangement such as is used in transport.

Extending between the bottom edges of the side and end wal Is 12, 14 is a floor lattice 20 made up of support ribs 22 running in a generally cartesian pattern, so that the majority of the individual support ribs 22 are either paral lel to the side wal Is 12 or to the end walls 14. The floor support ribs 22 extend out beyond the edges of the side and end wal Is 12, 14, so that the bottom edges of the side and end walls 12, 14 become shoulders which permit the nesting of the case 10 on another case similar to it. There are additionally provided interlocking channels 24 in the bottom side of the floor lattice support ribs 22 to facilitate nesting of cases in a staggered stacking arrange-ment for better securi ty i n transport .

The interior space of the case 10 is divided into two case com-partments 26, 28 of equal size by a case partition 30.

Extending vertically from the floor lattice 20 in each of the case compartments 26, 28 are two al igned columns 32, each subdivided into two closely-spaced, ,ingle-webbed pillars 34 with a narrow gap 36 between them. Each pi I lar 34 has a cross-section which is general Iy T-shaped as seen from the top, establishes a slot configuration at the top of the column and is in the shape of a double bracket elsewhere.
Thus each pillar has a spine 38 corresponding to the junction of the brackets of the cross-section, and two edges 40, one to each side of the spine. Between the spine 38 and each edge 40 of the pillars 34 is a concave cylindrical face 42 with a radius of curvature suited to the curvature of bottles to be accepted by the case 10 in such a way that at least one abutment line is established. It is not necessary that the radius of face 42 is equal to the bottle radius which preferably is larger. It can be visualized that the pillars 34 define in each case compartment 26 six receiving locations for bottles. The pillars 34 are of such dimensions that the received bottles are separated from each other by them to avoid breakage.

The pillars 34 are spaced from each other so that the gap 36 between them can accept the central partition 44 of a carrier, such as the carrier 46 shown in phantom lines in the Fig. 1, or of a minicase, not shown. A pair of openings 48 in the bottom of the carrier 46 permit the pillar groups of columns 32 to extend up into the carrier 46 with the central partition 44 of the carrier 46 Iying in the aligned gaps 36. The pillars 34 thereby become located in the individual carrier compartments 50 and afford protection of the bottles in addition to that provided by the czrrier 46. When the returned, empty bottles are later placed into the case 10 without the carrier 46, which is generally not returned, the pillars 34 again provide the needed protection.

~r il338~0 As can be seen from the Figs. 2 and 3, the pi I lars 34 are single-webbed and profiled in such a way that they are open on their facing sides forming gaps 36. Extending lengthwise on the inner surface of each pi I lar 34 and midway between the spine 38 and each of the edges 40 are reinforcing ribs 52. The reinforcing ribs 52 have L-shaped cross-sections, with the long of the L Iying flat against the inner surface of the pi I lar 34.

Where each pi I lar 34 joins the floor lattice 20, it is anchored to a floor support rib 22 at each edge 40 and also at the spine 38.
Additionally, there are short anchoring ribs or webs 54 extending from a support rib intersection to points directly opposite the rein-forcement ribs 52 on the inner surface of the pi I lars 34 along a radius of the faces 42.

The gap space between facing edges 40 of facing pi I lars 34 near the floor lattice 20 is fi I led in by short webs 58. This effective-ly prevents the slots 36 from extending completely to the floor lattice 20 of the case 10. However, the webs 58 sti 11 do not interfere with the acceptance of the carrier 46, since carriers commonly have the bottom slightly raised ;n the center carrier partition region, as can- be seen from the i I lustration of the carrier 46 in the Fig. 2.

The configuration of the pi I lars 34 with open facing sides, the inner reinforcement ribs 52, the webs 58 between the edges 40 of the facing pi I lars 34 in the gap 36, and the anchoring of the pi I lars 34 to the floor lattice 20 at points which include at least points located on il338~0 the outside of the pillars 34 directly opposite the inner reinforcement ribs 22 results in a structure in which the gap spacing does not warp from the desired value upon demolding. However, the pillars 34 are firmly and ruggedly anchored to the floor lattice 20 so that they can not readi Iy loosen from it. The absence of an inner facing wal I for the pi I lars 34 has the further advantage that the pi I lars have excel lent drainage of washing water in their upside-dwon position.

It should be understood that the features described above with respect to the preferred embodiment of the invention could also be used where pi I lars are in groups of more than two in order to bui Id a column .
For example, it might be desired to slot a column in both directions, such as would be the case if the pairs of facing pillars described above were also provided with a slot through the spines so that there would be a group of four mutually facing inwardly curved pillars.
Whi le the features of the present invention are especial ly advantageous for cases with cartesion floor lattice patterns, the inven-tion is useful for other floor patterns, such as those having radial sub-patterns .

A first variant of the column shape of the case according to Figs. 1 to 3 is shown in the lower half drawing of Fig. 4 as compared to the upper half drawing of the same Figure where the embodiment according to Figs. 1 to 3 is retained.

The essential difference consists in that the contour of the outer faces 42 of the pillar 34, corresponding to a quarter cylinder face, is 11338~0 replaced by two plane faces of equal width which meet each other at an obtuse angle along the diagonal of the column. Tying or anchoring by anchoring ribs or webs 54 is effected here in the transition area of the two plane faces 43, as it was effected before in the central area. As shown by the plan view, the topmost portion of the one-webbed pillar 34 is bent outwardly from the slot-shaped upper entry into the gap 36 such that hood faces 45 sloping triangularly downwardly and outwardly are formed at the upper end of the column which are part of the one-webbed structure of the pi l lar. These replace the respective crescent-shaped hood faces that are drawn in the upper half of the drawing without special reference numeral. The triangular hood faces 45 meet each other along an edge 47 which in prolongation of the anchoring ribs or webs 54 extends up to the slot-forming upper edge 49 of the respective pillar. This upper edge 49 additionally also has an extension branching central Iy and rectangularly and extending to the spine 38 of the pillar as additional reinforcement against bending of the pillar.

In Fig. 5 the mentioned first variant according to Fig. 4 is modified such that in the column 32 a cross-shaped gap 36 is formed which at the top of the column is defined by an introduction slot de-limited by a respective slot-forming upper edge 49, substantially form-ing a rounded right angle, of four pi l lars 34 in this case. I t may be seen in the right lower quadrant that the one-webbed structure of the respective pi l lar 34 extends so as to be reset outwardly downwardly of the upper slotted hood faces, namely into the plance faces 43. As in the case of Figs. 1 to 3 these faces are reinforced in their connecting areas by an inwardly provided vertical reinforcing rib 52.

_ , .
~ . , Fig. 6 shows that with the four-armed gap 36 of the two variants according to Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 the two newly added gap arms 36a extend to the floor lattice sti l l be y much smal ler degree so that here the two ad jacent pi I lars 34 are interconnected above the upper edge of the web 58 by a rib-shaped web 58a which, as in the case of the drawing, may even reach to beyond half the height of the column.
This is possible, as the compartment wal Is of a carrier may reach down to different depths. The concrecte choice of the height of the webs 58 and 58a depends on the special construction of the carriers or mini-cases to be accepted and may also have dimensions different from those shown .

The third and fourth variants according to Figs. ? and 8 gener-ally correspond to a large extent to the representations of Figs. 4 and 5, Fig. 7 having a two-armed gap ~6 like Fig. 4 and Fig. 8 having a four-armed gap 36 with rectangular crossing like Fig. 5.

A first change consists in that the anchoring ribs or webs 54 are omitted, since in many cases additional tying or anchoring of the pillar to the case floor is dispensible. Actually, experience has shown that the one-webbed pi l lar structure may already be designed to be self-supporting of itself. However, this depends on three-dimensional arrangements, wall thicknesses, types of material and the like.

A second and particularly essential difference as compared to Figs. 4 and 5, respectively, consists in that the pillar of the upper half of the drawing of Fig. 7 and the two pi I lars 34 of the upper half of the drawing of Fig. 8 shown in mirror symmetry to each other, ` :

11338~i0 respectively, have a cross-section differing from that of the respective pi I lar of the lower half of the drawing of Fig. 7 and from those of the respective pi I lars of the lower half of the drawing of Fig. 8, re-spectively. For this reason the pillars of the respective upper half of a drawing are provided with the suffix a and the pillars of the lower half of the drawing are provided with the suffix b.

For example, with the pillar 34a the slot-forming upper edge 49a thereof extends further outwardly than the opposite slot-forming upper edge 49b of the other pi I lar 34b. In the protruding area an outer flange 60 is formed thereby which may extend throughout the height of the column and which downwardly of the slot-forming upper hood area of the column passes over angularly into the adjacent outer face of the respective pi I lar 34a.

The extension of the outer flange 60 to which hence no respec-tive outer flange of the opposite pi I lar 34b corresponds may reach near, or even ùp to, the projection rectangular to the side wal Is 12, 14 of the center of a bottle to be inserted besides the respective column.
Thereby an absolute bottle separation within the bottle case 10 is ob-tained. This outer flange 60 preferably is a planely designed outer wall portion of the respective one-webbed profiled p;llar.

The extension of the outer flange 60 throughout the column is shown in Fig. 9 with regard to the third and fourth variants of Figs.
7 and 8, respectiveIy, as described.

The fifth variant according to Fig. 10 differs from the fourth ~, variant according to Fig. 8 first in that as in case of Figs. 1 and 5 ,.,..~

- 11338-~0 again an anchoring web or a respective anchoring rib 54 extending lengthwise of a diagonal is provided additionally.

- A respective modification of Fig. 7 is also possible.

Moreover, the fifth variant according to Fig. 10 differs from Fig. 8 by a broader design of the slot-forming upper edge 49a which may be several times broader than the unchanged slot-forming upper edge 49b of the pillar 34b having the smaller cross-section.

In all embodiments described so far the column had an upper slot-forming configuration and then was reset from the slot outwardly in its individual one-webbed profi led pi I lars to form a gap 36 having w i der d i mens i ons .

By the example of a four-armed gap 36 with rectangular cross-ing Figs. 11 and 12 show that the slot-forming upper edges 49 of the four pi I lars 34 shown here may also extend vertical Iy downwardly to-wards the case floor without additional displacement in the horizontal.
In this embodiment then each pillar consists of two vertical plane walls 62 extending at right angles relative to each other and joining each other in a rounded transition section 64.

In order to profile this structure such that it becomes self-supporting despite the one-webbed design, for example, one may pro-vide on the outside of the wal Is 62 and the transit;on section 64 a reinforcing projection 45a which is horizontal or curved or of some other profile, for example, rising in a hood shape from the floor while --?7 i~;'(`.i~

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tapering. Preferably, it has the hood shape mentioned in order to avoid dirt deposition; this also is advantageous as regards reinforcement.
In this respect there is a certain analogy to the hood faces 45 of the afore-described embodiments. Depending on the conditions given it is possible to provide the reinforcing projection 45a more or less high on the plane wails 62 and the transition section 64 of the respective pillar 34, optionally even only in the foot area of the pillar, though a higher starting point provides better reinforcement.

Fig. 12 shows a lateral view of this car;ant according to Fig. 11 where the reinforcing projection 45a ends at a height about in the middle of column 32 and extends downwardly up to the case floor. As shown, the height can be selected such that one arm of the gap 36 begins above the reinforcement 45a. However, this is not functional Iy necessary but may be selected depending on the circumstances. I t is obvious from Fig. 12 that, as in the embodiments described before, the actual hood face 45 has a relatively short extension in height and that under it the reinforcing projection 45a may just continue with a constant cross-section. Of course, here too variants are possible such as a better adaptation to the demolding conditions with respective conical design.

The last variant of Fig. 13 finally is derived from the variant of Figs. 11 and 12 as described in the foregoing. However, here the gap 36 has three gap arms 36c. The angles under which the three gap arms 36c are provided relative to each other are equal ones here. As in the embodiments described above, here the reinforcing projections .

45a are replaced by tying or anchoring to the floor lattice 20 of the case floor which here is not of cartesian configuration but of an angular configuration corresponding to the different subdivision into compart-ments, by means of anchoring ribs or webs 54 which again engage at the middle of the two main wal Is, formed by plane wal Is 62 with rounded transition section 64, of each of the three pillars 34 which are identical here. The anchoring is effected to the respective transition section 64.

Finally, it should be noted that the diverse variants described else are each of a design identical to that of the embodiment to which reference is made expressly in each case. However, within the scope of the invention all possibilities of variation described may arbitrari-Iy be combined in addition to the described embodiments so that, for example, in Fig. 13 as well as in Figs. 7, 8 or 10 outer flanges 60 may only be provided on one or several of the pillars given to which in each case a respective outer flange on the opposite pillar does not correspond .

Claims (12)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR
PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A molded thermoplastic resin case for transporting bottle carriers or minicases filed with beverage bottles or single beverage bottles, including a box structure having side walls and a floor and at least one separator column extending upwardly from said floor within said box structure, said column being subdivided into partial pillars defining a slot therebetween for receiving therein a dividing wall of a bottle carrier or minicase with bottles contained therein to be inserted into the case; each of said pillars being formed from a web-like, profiled, single wall having opposed inner and outer surfaces, said outer surface of each said profiled wall facing said side walls of said box structure and forming non-cylindrical concave, vertically extending bottle contact faces for separating bottles inserted in said box structure, said inner surface of each said profiled wall defining said slot at a top portion thereof.

2. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1, wherein each said bottle contact face comprises two dihedral planes.

3. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1 or 2, wherein upper edges of said inner surfaces of said partial pillars define vertical planes defining said slots, said bottle contact faces being spaced from respective vertical planes by a distance greater than the thickness of said profiled walls.

4. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1, or 2 wherein upper edges of said inner surfaces of said partial pillars define vertical planes defining said slots, said bottle contact faces being spaced from respective vertical planes by a distance greater than the thickness of said profiled walls and said top portions of said profiled walls are connected to said bottle contact faces thereof by sloping, concave hood members.

5. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1, wherein said top portions on only one side of said slot have lateral extensions to provide further bottle separation.

6. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1, 2 or 5, wherein said partial pillars have reinforcing projections extending upwardly from said floor on said outer surfaces.

7. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1, 2 or 5, wherein said column is subdivided into only two pillars.

8. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1, 2 or 5, wherein said column is subdivided into four pillars to define two slots which are perpendicularly oriented.

9. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1, 2 or 5, wherein different pillars of one column have different cross sections such that only one of said profiled walls extends between the centers of two adjacently inserted bottles.

10. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1, 2 or 5, wherein longitudinal reinforced ribs are disposed along the center lines of said inner surfaces of said profiled walls.

11. A molded thermoplastic resin case according to claim 1, 2 or 5, wherein each of said pillars comprises two concave bottle contact faces meeting along a common spine.

12. A molded theremoplastic resin case according to claim 1, wherein the top portions of said inner surface of each pillar extends substantially above the top of sid bottle contact surfaces and comprise top planar portions connected in a generally perpendicular manner.