CA1301091C

CA1301091C - Stackable bottle case

Info

Publication number: CA1301091C
Application number: CA000539535A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Martin Schoeller
Original assignee: Alexander Schoeller and Co AG; Schoeller Plast SA
Current assignee: Alexander Schoeller and Co AG; Schoeller Arca Systems AG
Priority date: 1986-06-12
Filing date: 1987-06-12
Publication date: 1992-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 2009-05-19
Also published as: WO1987007577A1

Abstract

Abstract A stackable bottle case In a stackable bottle case with compartments for taking up large-size beverage bottles provided in particular with a reinforcing bottom part, which is provided on its bottom with a recess in each compartment for taking up the top of the bottle in a case stacked below, the recesses in the case bottom limited substantially by the lower edges of the case walls extend into the interior of the case and the compartment walls limiting the compartment are substantially as high as the case.

Description

13~ 91 A Stackable Bottle Case , On the beverage market there is an increasing trend toward k~rge-size bottles with a capacity of 2 1. For this purpose special non-returnable bottles have been developed which, to save raw materials and impxove handling, have very thin walls and thus a light-weight construction. The bottle body is of substantially circular cylindrical shape and the lower portion of the bottle is provided in the interests of stability with a so-called base cup. The base cup in which the non-returnable bottle is inserted serves as a reinforcing bottom part to give the bottle sufficient stability. At present two different base cups are used on the market, namely those which converge conically at the bottom and those which continue the bottle wall downwards and parallel in a cylinder shape.
The use of such large bottles creates special problems for the bottle cases, since when eight bottles with 2 1 each are transported, for example, a weight of about 16 kg must be handled. This makes it necessary for the bottle case to be extremely stable, on the one hand. On the other hand, the bottle case should be usable and easy to handle both for bottles with conical base cups and for those with cylindrical base cups.
A known bottle case for taking up large-size bottles with base cups and a capacity of 2 1 (European patent application 84/30 34 737 which was published on November 27, 1985 under the publication number 0 162 162) serves to take up six bottles in two rows with three compartments each.
In order to make the bottle cases stackable, downward cylindrical projec-tions provided with recesses on the inside are formed on the bottom proper of the case, which coincides with the plane formed by the lower edges of the side walls of the case. The necks of the bottles in the case stacked below fit into these recesses, thereby increasing the stability of the stack due to the stacked cases being locked together.
The projections are at least as high as the side walls of the bottle case, which leads altogether to a large construction of the bottle case.
Since the side walls are relatively low due to the long downward projections, the bottles contained in the case are not supported stably enough, which has an adverse effect in particular when an individual bottle case is being transported. Further, the known bottle case does not have a sufficient carrying handle, which is extremely disadvanta-geous for the handling of the case itself in view of the heaviness of a bottle case containing full bottles. The compartments of the known bottle case are designed in such a way as to take up only bottles having l3~n~

conical base cups, which impairs the universal usefulness of the bottle case. Furthermore, bottles with conical base cups are not as stable as those with parallel base cups, which will thus be more widely used in the future.
The invention is based on the problem of providing a bottle case which ensures stable stacking of the cases, good support of the bottles contained in the case, a compact construction of the case itself and good handling. In parti-cular, this bottle case should be suitable for large-size bottles.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a stackable bottle case with compar-tments for taking up large-size beverage bottles. The case ls provided on its bottom with a recess in each compartment Eor taking up the top of a bottle in a case stacked below. The case is also provided with removal guides which extend from the recesses to -the opposi-te side walls and which are parallel to the other two side walls.
The case is characterized in that compartment walls which define the compartments are double-walled and extend substantially the height of the case.
The special merit of the invention is that the case bottom is provided with an upwardly extending recess serving to take up the neck of the bottle in the case stacked below. This makes it possible to do without the bulky construction below the case bottom which is necessary in the known bottle case and makes it difficult to remove a bottle case from a stack.
Furthermore, this arrangement results in a very compact construction of the bottle case which is not so high. Since the recesses are only a fraction as high as the case, sufficient height remains for the compar-tment walls to support the bottles contained in the bottle case, ensuring a very stable hold on the bottles within the bottle case. One thus obtains stable stacking, on the one hand, since the bottles in the case stacked ~3~1~93L
- 2a -below can fit into the upper case (locking) but are also held tightly within the case itself, which is highly advantageous during transport and is also favorable for stable stacking. The inventive design of the cases also allows for them to be lifted off or removed very easily from the stack. Further, if no suitable pallets are present, the case can also be stacked upside down over the bottles. An extra intermediate layer is thus ulmecessary. The high compartment walls make the bottle case rigid under pressure so that it is suitable for clamped palletization and is particularly well suited for large-size bottles with or without a reinforcing bottom part.
Expedient developments of the invention are characterized by the features contained in the subclaims.
Specifically, the compartment walls preferably have a double-walled design which, on the one hand, is advantageous for the r:igidity of the case under pressure and, on the other hand, provides advantages in terms of very fast cooling of the case when removed from the mold.
The design of the bottle case with a middle row having fewer compartments than the two outer rows yields the advantage that sufficient grasping room for picking up the case is available for the handle formed in the middle in -the area of the narrow side walls. The handle is 3L3~

prq~ersbly rounded to rAcillt~tQ handlln~. The toundlng 15 expQdiently achleved ~r ~ ~ul~e on a traverse web o~ the handle. ~hl~ bulge at the same t~me fiervln~ a~ a rlb t.o In~ke the narrow ~ide walls snore rlgld.
l~elow the }landle there 1~ ~ recess, the wall6 l~mltln~ the rQcess and thu~ the gr~pln~ space forrrlln~ a pr~teetlve ~hell for the hand~P" whlch flhl~lds ~nd protocts the hand ~ra6p~ng the handle ~rom the bottles coIltalned In th~ bottJe ca~e.
The removal Or a full ca6e trom the ~t~ck Is f~cil~tated by the forlnation o~ a remov~l groove ln the c~se bottom which, llke a rall, interconnect~ ~llened recefi~e~. The dep~h o~ t,he ~roove ls expcdlently le~ i;han the depth of the recefi~, SD fl~ to ~re~erve the ~uII locking o~e~t durlng sS~okln~ Auc ~o the receE;s. ~or removal the case ileed only be ~llghtl~7 ralsed 30 that thc top~ o~ the 40ttle~ in the ca6e stacked h~low E JntQ the ~roove and thus the ca~e can readily ~e remov~ from the case stacked below.
The wldened de~ign of the case corner6 contrlbute~ to ~he rlgldl~.y ~,r the ca6e under prcssllre, so that It 16 sultat~ or ~l~mped p~llt~tlzation. In thls oonnectl~)n, horlzont;~l and vertlcAI rlbs ar~
expedlentl,v molded onto t,hc sld~ walls, whl~h lnorea~e stablllty and, when orfset ~rom each o~her, allo~ ~or a certaln lo~kln~ oJ adJacent cases.
'n i,hq rollu-w;~, n~ omplary cm~)odiment ol the Invent;ion ~hall be daserlbed wlth re~erenee to the dr~wln~, whlch shows s~ri~tly schematic vlew6 as rollow~:
171g. 1 ~ vlew of an eml~od~ment of an inven~lve bottl~ ca6e ~om the bot~om, 6howlng on~y one longl~udln~l half oî the bot,tle ca~e, ~ 'lg. 2 ~ vlew ~r the bottle ca~e ~ ~n Fl~ rom th~ top, again shotqlng onl~ one longltudinal h~l~ o~ Che b~>ttle ca~e and ~1160 the bottom grld only par~ly, Flg. a a s)de vlew o~ a n4rrow slde of thc bottla ~ase, Flg. 4 a cro6~-~ectlon of the bottle c~e ~long A-A ln ~Ig. l, and l~g, ~ ~ partlal view o~ the bo~tom grJd oî a cornpartment of the bottle ~a~e, ~een ~rom the bottom.
The bottle oa~e shown ln the figllres ls made o~ a ~hock-resl~e~nt synthetl~ materlal and include6 two narrow slde wall~ 1 and lon~itudlnal wAlls 2. Th~ lnterlor of the case 18 dlvlded lnt,o compartments ~or t~kin~ up bottles by compartment walls ~ In conJunctlon wlth the ~orre~pondln~ fi~de wa~ shown, the bottle c~s~ servc~ to take up elght bottle~ altog~ther, holdlng them wlthin the case in th~eQ par~l]el row~. The two outer r~w~ serve to talce up t.hree l~ottle~, whereas the Inner row 1~ Jor two bottles, off~ek ~rom the bottles ln the t~lUU outer row~. Due to thls 01'~8et arran~ement and ~he sn~allar num~er Or bot~;les ~L3~
in the rr,lddle row, there ls enough room ~; each end o~ the m3ddle row ror the carrying handle de6crlbed below In rr,ore detail.
ThG bottl~ cu~e ls llrnlted 81; the bottom by a bottom grid 4. In the elllbodlmenl 6hown, eaçh compartment i9 provlded wlt~ a bottom ~rid ~orrned by radl~l web~ and ~nn~AIar we~s. In bo~tom grld 4, whlch subF~tAI~tl~lly ~oincide6 wll,h the plane ~ormed by the lower ed~e~ o~ the O~de w~lls ot the bot l:le cll~;e, reee~ses 6 are ~ormed In the mkldle o~ eaeh coml)art-ment. ~ece~ses ~, whl~h can be seen best ln FI~B. I an~l 4, extend upward!y ~rom bott;om grld 4 ~nto the lnterior o~ the bottle caae.
Recesses ~ ~erve to take llp the necks o~ ~ottles stacked belour. Since .hese neck~ flt lnto ~he recesses In bottom ~rld 41 o~ the ease st~cked ~ l~n~JP, th~ la~ rc o. ~.,~ Gt~C~ ~ G ~llùtur;ly ~h~hU~ Gd~ Ws~ incr~ 6 the sta~llity Or t:he ~taclc lt~el~. Speclfic~lly, the rcces6e~ exteIId into the Interlor or the bottle case by ~ actlon of the helght o~ the hottle caae, the llmlt bein~, on l:he one harld, the predervatlon o~
su~flci~nt sl;~hi]]ty of the stacked cases and, on the nth~r hand, a su~ic~ent InDertion depth ~or the bottle to be tQken up In the bottle car5e ltselt, the bottle beln~ held by t:he compartment walls und the slde walls of thc bottJe case. In p~ ~ctlcal embodlment~, the depth of re~esses G, calculated ~rom ~he ~ottom o~ the C~lSG~ pproxlmately betwc~n } and ~ cm, 1.he deptl~ ~f re~e66 fi belng appro~ima~Qly 1.6 cm ln the embodlrnent ~hown. I~owcver, the depth s01ected rOr the rec~s is dependeht on the deslgn o~ th~ bottles to b~ contalned ln the bottl~
c~s~. If the bottle case 18 ~upport,ed not ~y Ihe scr~w e~ps of the bo~,tles stncked below bht by a reln~orcem~n~ cQ~lar usu~lly ~ormed on }ar~e-s~ze bottles, the depeh Or th~ reees~ 15 greater than i~ the Ca6e i~ supporteti by the fi~rew c8p lt~elf.
As shown ln ~Ig. 4, ~he relatlvely small depth o~ r~ces~ 6 leaves ~re?~t helght for the compar~men~ w~lls and ~ld~ wall~ wllich s~rves to suppo~t the bottle talcen up in the eornpartment. This means that l~rge-sl~e bottles are taken up very s~bly ~n the b~ttle case. This firm hol~
o~ thc bottles ln the bottle ~afie Also contrl~utes ultlmately to the ~t~bllity of~ the st,~ck ltsel~.
A~ ~hown in Flg. 4, horlzonts.l r ~dlal webs 6 of the bott;om grld are supplemented by a vertlcal radlal web 7, the cros~-sectlon of webs ~ and 7 being ~u~tant~ally T-6haped. Thls r~ult~ in ~ very rl~ld c~n3truc-~ion of bottom grid 4 under pre~6ure.
FIE. 4 al60 ln~lcal;es that slde wa31s l, ~ and comPar~ment w~lls ~ Bre provided ~t the top wlth ~n lnsertion slope 8 whlch fa~jlltat~6 the In6ertlon Or t;he bottles Into the bot1,1e ca~e and thu~ ~he hanàlln~ of the bottl~ caae it~lf ~ omp~r~ment walls 3 tllemselves, as shown eR~entlally In Flg. ~, have 13~:~0~ -at 3' and 3" a double-wallod constructlon and are altogether sel~
cont~lned, the tran61tlon between walls ~' ~nd ~" ln compartment uall~ ~
.~hown on the le~t In Flg. 2 bollle formed by a wall portion 3"' an~ ~lde wail 2 lt~el~. W~lls 3', 3" and ~"' are de61~ned a~ partly cylindrlcal .4urtaces to ~aciiltAte the In~ertlon and hold~ng Or the bottles havlng a clrcular croæs-sect~n~ AdUacen~ compartment wall6 3 are connected on tho bottom by ~ertlcal web8 9 com~rable to we~a 7 in Flg, 4. Thl~ al~o contrlbutes to thc rlgldlty o~ the bottle c~e under pr~ssure. At the top cnmpartmerlt wallfi ~s are closed, whereas at th~ bottom they have an open doslgn as shown ln Fl~. 1. Thl~ iacilltates the molding o~ the bol~le ca~P as ~ whole, the moldlng or ~he comp~rtment w~ belng e~ec~.ed by a SD-Cal1ed sword. Slnce compartmcnt wall~ ~ Rre al60 relatlvely wide, expedlently beln~ at ~he narrowest place betwoen 2.5 cm an~ 3~6 cm, prefera~ cm, the mold cools very quickly a~ well as the bottle ca~e belng ~ablllzed by the wldth relation~.
As can be6t ~e ~en ifl Flg6. ~ and 4, carrylng h~ndle 10 i6 fQrmed l)y a transver~e web 10 Çormln~ part of slde w~ll 1, 8 r~cesfi markcd 1 1 belng provlded below ~ald handle as seen In Flg, ~. ~ecess 11 extend~
far enou~}l lnto the Int¢rlor o~ ~,he bottle ca~e, duQ to tih8 ~mlall nurnb~r Or cotnpartments In th~ mlddle row o~ the ~ottl~ cafie, to provld~
~1~ m clent space ior the graspln~ hand. As shown by ~lgs. ~ an~l 2, wa~l 12 ilr~ r~ run inio compar~men~ waii ~ ior the compartment3 of the mddle row so as l;o rorm a shell fihle)ding tho hand gr~splrl~ the h~ndle from thc bottles ln the compart.ment, as indl~ated ln ~ig. 4. Thls al~o facllltatQ~ ~he hand]lng oî the bot~,le c~se, which hs~ a consldor-abl~ wel~ht due to the lAr~e-sl2e ~ottles.
Further, transver~e WQb 10 pre~era~ly h~ a bul&e 1~ ln the low~r area whlch polnts Inward3y and h~s round ~urface~ ~o as to ~cilltate the grasplng o~ handle 10. Th~re i6 thufi roorn ~or grasplng an~ l;he band~ llre protected ~rom the bottles contalneà ln t~le ca6e. I~ue to ~he round~d hP~ndle It Is easy to cnrry th~ bottle ca~e even when the boltle6 Bre rull and the case ~s thererore v~ry heavy.
A~ ~hown ln Fl~. ~, rlbs ~ 4 and l61 whlch are exp~diently provlded In palrs and ~xtend horlzont~lly ~nd ~ertlcal~y, are formed ln the corner arQbls on the out~lde Or side wall~ 1 and Z. Th~se rlbs are ~llghtly urf~et ~rom e~ch ol,her on oppo~lte sldes, ~hereby allow~ng ~or ad,ia~ent CARI~:3 to be locked togethcr ln Ihe :ase o~ cli~mped palle~lza~;lon. Th~e rlh~ 14 ~nd 16 al~o contrlbute to make the c~se trsmQ more rlyld.
Fl~ how~ ~alrly clearly that corners 16 o~ the cuæe have a double-w~lled de61~n. On the lnslde corner6 1~ ~r e llmlted by ~ clo~ed wall 17 ~nd on th~ out~de by ~orner wall 18. Thls corner wall l# ha~ A
protrudln~ desl~n, extendln~ outwàr~ly at 19 by me~næ of obllgue w&b~

and thereby wldenlng corners 1~. whlch ha6 a Yavo~able o~ect on the rlgldlty or the c~se under pre6sur~ and makes It. partlcularly well sulted rOr cl~mped palletlz~tlon.
Fl~. 6, which shows a view Or the c~se bot~om ~rom beJow, 6how~ s~-called removal ~uldes In ~h~ ~orm of ~nw~rdly extendlng gr~ove~ 20, whlch ex~nd par~llel to one of the side wall~ ~rom re~se~ 5 into the ~Ide walJs. This f~cllltstes removal o~ st~cked bottle cases, uhlch only nc~d to be slightly raised and can t;hen be removed 6ideways from the lower ca~e. ln t~l~ em~odlment 3hown in Fig. 6, the depth o~ gronve ~o 16 ~oss than the dep1:h Or re(tes~ 6, Srll,o whlch the neek oi the bottle ln the c~e ~tac}ced below flts.

Claims

1. A stackable bottle case with compartments for taking up large-size beverage bottles, provided on its bottom with a recess in each compartment for taking up the top of a bottle in a case stacked below, and removal guides extending from the recesses to the opposite side walls and being parallel to the other two side walls, characterized in that compartment walls (3) defining the compartments are double-walled and extend substantially the height of the case.

2. A bottle case according to claim 1, characterized in that supporting surfaces of the compartment walls (3) for the bottles are formed substantially by partly circular cylindrical surfaces.

3. A bottle case according to claim 1, characterized in that the compartment walls (3) limit compartments in three rows of which two outer rows form three compartments and an inner row forms two compartments which are offset from the compartments of the two outer rows.

4. A bottle case according to claim 3, characterized in that a carrying handle (10) is formed by a transverse web as a constituting part of a narrow side wall (1) and having a rounded grasping surface.

5. A bottle case according to claim 4, characterized in that the lower grasping surface is formed by a bulge (13) extending into the interior of the case.

6. A bottle case according to claim 4, characterized in that a recess (11) extending inwardly as far as the outer compartment wall of the inner row of compartments is provided in the narrow side wall (1) below the carrying handle (10).

7. A bottle case according to claim 4, characterized in that side walls (12) of the recess (11) form compartment walls for the two outer rows and run into the compartment wall (3) of the inner row, also forming a shell shielding the grasping space inwardly from the bottles.

8. A bottle case according to claim 1, characterized in -that the case stacked above is supported via the annular surface of the case bottom limiting the recess (5) on a reinforcing collar formed on the neck of the bottle.

9. A bottle case according to claim 8, characterized in that the depth of the recess (5) is between 1 cm and 2 cm, preferably approximately 1.5 cm.

10. A bottle case according to claim 1, characterized in that corners (16) of the case are outwardly widened by a projection tat 19) of the side walls (1,2) in the corner areas.

11. A bottle case according to claim 1, characterized in that longitudinal or transverse ribs (14,15) are molded onto the outside of the side walls (1,2).

12. A bottle case according to claim 1, characterized in that longitudinal and transverse ribs (14,15) are molded onto the outside of the side walls (1,2).

13. A bottle case according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the ribs (14,15) of opposite side surfaces are slightly offset laterally from each other.

14. A bottle case according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the side and compartment walls (1,2,3) have a bottle insertion slope (8) at the top.

15. A bottle case according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the double-walled compartment walls (3) have a width of 2.5 to 3.5 cm, preferably 3 cm, at their narrowest place.