CA2113018A1 - Modular containers - Google Patents

Abstract

A modular, thermoplastic, multi-bottle container having a grid-like network of a plurality of circular protrusions in the bottom of the container, each of which protrusions can fit within a recess in the base of a bottle to keep the bottle upright. The base of the container on its outside has a plurality of recesses defined by the protrusions and which can retain the tops of bottles stored in a lower identical container when the height of the container is such as to allow of such retention, when the containers are stacked one upon another. Between the grid-like network of the recesses is a grid-like network of channels of a width not less than two times the width of the endwalls and sidewalls. The containers are stackable in an interlocking manner by the channels receiving up to two of the peripheries of the sidewalls or endwalls of lower containers. This provides additional stability. The bottles in a lower container can provide support to the base of an upper container, when stacked. The container is reusable and recyclable.

Description

~ ~ 2113018 MODULAR CONTAINFRS

FIFLD OF THF INVFNTION
This invention relates to containers and more particularly, to thermoplastic rectangular containers for holding a plurality of bottles, cans and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THF INVFNTION
Containers, cartons, cases and the like for holding selected multiples of bottles are known. For instance, containers which conveniently hold 6, 12, 18 or 24 bottles of alcoholic beverages or soft drinks are well-known.
These multi-unit "packs" are invariably rectangular shaped, flat-based containers, openable at the top, optionally, provided with handles and formed of cardboard. Although the individual cardboard container provides convenience to the final customer in the transportation and storage of both full and empty bottles, the cardboard container constitutes a non-reuseable, disposable item. This creates an environmentally unsound disposal problem, even though part of the cardboard may be recyclable through a re-pulping treatment.
However, should a recyclable and fully reuseable container substitute be desired, regard must be had to, inter alia, the economics of manufacture, storage and transportation, and the appeal and acceptance by the consumer and industry.

SUMMARY OF TH~ INVl~NTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reuseable and recyclable multi-unit modular container.
It is another object to provide a multi-unit modular container which provides improved stackability and stability when a plurality of the containers are stacked in an interlocking manner.
Accordingly, the invention provides in one aspect a modular, rectangular bottle container, stackable upon an identical container, comprising a base having an inner side, an outer side and a periphery; side walls having upper peripheries; and end walls having upper peripheries; wherein said base on said inner side has:

`~ 2113018 a grid-like network of a plurality of substantially circular protrusions, each protrusion adapted to be received by the recess in the base of a bottle and which defines on said outside of said base a substantially circular recess adapted to receive the top of a bottle; and a plurality of continuous rectangular protrusions along the length and breadth of said base between said circular protrusions and which on said outside of said base define a grid-like network of channels between said circular recesses;

said base periphery of said container and said upper peripheries of said side walls and said end walls of said identical container are of such dimensions and shapes as to allow said base to operably abut said upper peripheries of said side walls and said end walls of said identical container in a stackable, stable arrangement;
said upper peripheries of said side walls and said end walls having a width that is not greater than one half the width of said channels; whereby said channels can operably receive said upper peripheries of one or two side walls or end walls; and wherein said side walls and said end walls have a height to operably allow a bottle to be .

~ 4 2113 0 18 , _ retained between said circular protrusion of said identical container and said circular recess of said container, when said base operably abuts said upper peripheries of said side walls and said end walls of said identical container.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a modular carrier comprising an open-top rectangular box with a rectangular base having a top, a bottom and a periphery with four side walls upstanding from the periphery, each wall having about an upper periphery thereof a top abutment surface and inside locating surfaces, the base having peripheral bottom abutment surfaces about the periphery thereof complimentary to the top abutment surfaces, the base having perimeter locating surfaces, a plurality of bottle bottom retaining means on the top, each to locate a bottom of a bottle therein, the bottom bottle retaining means disposed equally spaced in a regular rectangular array on the top, a plurality of bottle top retaining means on the bottom, each to locate a top of a bottle therein, each bottle top retaining means disposed centrally below a corresponding bottle bottom retaining means, wherein with boxes stacked vertically with bottle bottom retaining means in upper and lower boxes in - 5 - 21~3~18 vertically aligned registry, bottles in a lower box are retained against tipping with their bottoms received in a bottle bottom retaining means in a lower box and their tops received in bottle top retaining means in an upper box, each side wall including exterior side abutment surfaces to abut side abutment surfaces of adjacent boxes to position them in abutting adjacent relation, the base further comprising interior abutment surfaces on the bottom disposed intermediate the bottle top retaining means along lines perpendicular to the side walls, and, interior locating means on either side of the interior abutment surfaces, wherein when boxes are arranged in a lower row with adjacent boxes in abutting adjacent relation and an upper box is placed lnto an upper row above a lower row with bottle bottom retaining means of the upper box in vertically aligned registry with bottle bottom retaining means of boxes of the lower row, it follows that:

A. where walls of an upper and lower box are in vertical alignment: the top abutment surfaces of a lower box engage the peripheral bottom abutment surfaces of the upper box to support the upper box with perimeter locating surfaces of the upper box engaging inside locating surfaces - 6 ~ 21~3 01~

of the lower box to couple the upper box to the lower box against lateral sliding; and B. where two adjacent walls of abutting adjacent lower boxes in a lower row underlie the base of an upper box other than in vertical alignment under side walls of an upper box, the top abutment surfaces of the two side walls of the lower adjacent boxes engage the interior abutment surfaces on the bottom of the upper box with the interior locating means of the upper box engaging inside locating surfaces of each of the two adjacent walls received therebetween to couple the upper box to the two lower boxes against lateral sliding.
The open-topped modular container according to the invention is preferably formed of a light weight thermoplastic material, which may, optionally, contain fibreglass to enhance strength and rigidity. The base, side walls and end walls are of sufficient thickness to provide the desired strength and rigidity. However, the invention provides the opportunity of reducing the amount of thermoplastic used in its construction by allowing the base to be of a minimal thickness while utilizing the vertical support provided by the plurality of upright bottles contained in a lower container when the containers are stacked. This is referred to as stack stability. It will ` _ _ 7 _ 2113~1~

.
be appreciated, of course, that the bottles act only as transient support members for the base of an upper container, i.e. when the upper container rests on a lower, bottle containing container.
Further, by means of the upstanding protrusions in the base of the container providing lateral guidance to the bottles, which is enhanced by the retaining recesses of an upper container when containers are stacked, there is no need for full height partitions throughout the inside of the container. Fach of the protrusions of the multi-dimpled base centers a bottle to the extent that the protrusion prevents sufficient lateral movement of the bottle. This reduces the possibility of the bottles hitting each other when the containers are transported as a multi-container stack. Instead, low profile partitions may be used.
The container, preferably, has integrally formed corner strengthening members to enhance rigidity. Such corner members may be so shaped as to also provide gripping points for robotic handling.
A valuable feature of the containers according to the invention recognizes the need that such containers must be readily stackable and sufficiently stable, when so stacked, as to allow of safe movement of a skid load of stacked containers, for example, by means of a fork-lift truck. This desired result is achieved by providing the - ~ - 8 - 2113018 base of each container with a grid-like network of channels of sufficient width to receive up to two peripheries of side walls or end walls. This enables the peripheries of a side wall or end wall of two adjacent containers to be received, in part, by the channels of the same upper container. By having a sufficient number of lower containers adjacently laid out in a rectangular manner, each of a plurality of upper containers may be individually laid in an interlocking parallel or perpendicular, modular manner upon the lower containers.
Additional levels of such modular containers may be built up to an acceptably safe height. It will be readily appreciated that the upper peripheries of the side walls and end walls may be embraced by a single channel or a pair of channels adapted to receive in adjacent relationship a pair of upper peripheries. Thus, in this specification and claims, the term channel includes a channel that has been divided into several individual segments, which individual segment is adapted to receive a single periphery of a side wall or end wall.
It is not necessary that all of the modular containers are of the same length and breadth for efficient, safe and convenient stacking. Provided that the width of the peripheries of side walls and end walls and of channels are as defined above, 6, 12, 18 and 24 unit containers may ~ 9 2113~18 be interlockably stacked by the network arrangement.
Although not preferred, individual 2, 3, and 4 unit packs could be co-stacked with the longer unit packs.
The above stacking arrangement is predicated upon the container side walls and end walls being of a suitable height to allow the bottles to be retained between the protrusions in a lower container and the recesses in an upper container while permitting the peripheries of the side walls and end walls of the lower container, in whole or in part, to'abut the periphery of the base of the upper container. For maximum stability, the tops of the bottles in the recesses of upper container, should gently abut the base.
The container according to the invention, optimally may be provided with a detachable cover or lid having the form as hereinabove described for the base of the container. Thus, the cover has recesses to retain the tops of the bottles in the container when the periphery of the cover abuts the upper peripheries of the side walls and end walls of the container. The modular container preferably is provided with handles by which it may be individually carried.
It can thus be seen that the present invention provides recyclable, modular containers for storing and carrying of a plurality of individual bottles.

~ - lO- 211301~

In those instances where packaging, such as cans, packets and the like, are of such form as to allow of their use in a container as hereinbefore defined then the claims defining the container hereinbelow embrace such use.
The containers are readily stackable and transportable by conventional means.

BRIEF DFSCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order that the invention may be better understood, a preferred embodiment will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly cut-away, of a container according to a first embodiment of the invention holding several bottles;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the container of Figure 1 along the line 2-2';
Figure 3 shows a schematic view, partly cut-away, of a staggered stack of containers according to the first embodiment;
Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 show part schematic sections of alternative embodiments of two containers in abutting relationship;
Figure 8 shows a stack of containers according to the invention on a pallet;

- ~ 11 - 21 13~18 Figure 9 shows a cover for an individual container according to the first embodiment of the invention.
Figures 10 and 11 show top elevation and bottom elevation views of a twen~y-four bottle container in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention;
Figure 12 shows a cross-sectional side view along line 12-12' in Figure 10;
Figure 13 shows a bottle retainer for use with the container of Figure 10;
Figure 14 shows a pictorial view of four containers identical to that of Figures 10 to 12, stacked on a customized pallet base, only partially shown;
Figure 15 shows a cross-sectional side view along line 15-15' in Figure 14;
Figures 16 and 17 show a twelve bottle container and a six bottle container, for use in a set with the container of Figures 10 to 12;
Figure 18 shows a schematic partially cut-away pictorial view of a third embodiment of a container in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THF PRFF~RRFD FMBODIMFNTS
The preferred first embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 and 9, for ease of understanding, with reference also to an identical container - 12 - 2113~1~

.
wherein identical parts are denoted by the letter "A".
Figure 1 shows a twenty-four pack, open-topped, rectangular container 10, (also, as an identical container 10A), formed of a thermoplastic material and having a base 12, side walls 14 and end walls 16.
With reference also to Figure 2, base 12 has an inner side 18, an outer side 20 and a periphery 22. Inner side 18 has a grid-like network of a plurality of substantially circular protrusions 24, a total of twenty-four in the embodiment shown, which are so individually shaped as to fit within the recess of the base of a bottle 11 storable in container 10. Protrusion 24 assists in retaining the bottle upright and preventing lateral movement of the base of the bottle. Between the network of protrusions 24, inner side 18 has a grid-like network of continuous rectangular protrusions 26 along the length and breadth of base 12.
Outer side 20 of the base has a plurality of substantially circular recesses 28, a total of twenty-four in the embodiment shown, defined by protrusions 24. Fach of recesses 28 is so shaped as to generally retain the top of the bottle so as to restrain it from toppling over, as hereinafter described. Betweén recesses 28 is a grid-like network of channels 30 defined by rectangular protrusions 26.

13 ~113~18 .

Side walls 14 and end walls 16 have upper peripheries 32, 34, respectively. ~ach of peripheries 32, 34 is of a width slightly less than one half of the width of channel 30, such that channel 30 can receive up to two of peripheries 32, 34 as hereinafter described.
Peripheries 32, 34 have an internal step 36 capable of receiving in abutting engagement periphery 22 of base 12A of identical container lOA. Peripheries 32, 34 are also of a sufficent thickness to provide protection, as a bumper 38, during handling, filling and transportation. In the embodiment shown, bumper 38 takes the form of an inverted lip. In an analogous manner, base periphery 22 has an upstanding lip 40 to provide protection. The lips may also be used to receive and retain a covering sheet of protective material such as polythylene film.
Side walls 14 and end walls 16 are of a pre-selected height, which is approximately the same height as bottles 11 to be retained in container 10. This allows the bottles to be stored in container 10 when containers 10 and lOA are stacked container lOA upon container 10, such that bottles 11 are retained over protrusions 24 and their tops within recesses 28A. In the embodiment shown, and also in Figures 3 and 4, the height of side walls 14 and end walls 16 are such that bottles 11 provide support to base 12A of container lOA.

~ - 14 - ~3~8 Container 10 has corner supports 42, a pair of handles 44 and low profile support partitions 46.
Figure 3 shows a three-tier stack of containers 10 and lOA wherein two second level containers are in staggered relationships with individual upper and lower containers 10, lOA. It can be seen that adjacent end walls 16 of the second level containers are adjacent each other, with their respective upper peripheries 34 within a single channel 30 of an upper container.
Figure 4 shows a top of a bottle 11 abutting base 12 of upper container 10; whereas Figure 5 shows top of bottle 11 retained within recess 28 but not providing maximum support to base 12 of upper container 10.
Figures 6 and 7 show alternative mating relationships of abutting peripheries 22 and 34.
A stack of interlocking modular containers 10, lOA
are shown in Figure 8 on a pallet 48. It can readily be seen that the containers may be laid one on top of the other, in a staggered manner, not only parallel, but preferably, in alternatively parallel and perpendicular arrangement.
Separate cover 50 shown in Figure 9, for use with an individual container has a base 52 of similar form as the outer side of base 12 of container 10, lOA. It has, thus, the requisite number of recesses 28 as the maximum number of .

~ - 15 - 2113dl8 .
bottles 11 to be held in container 10, and, optionally, channels 30, should there be a reason for large cover 50 to cover, in whole or in part, more than one container.
Containers in accordance with a second embodiment are now described with reference to Figures 10 to 17.
Figures 10, 11 and 12 show top, bottom and cross-sectional side views of a twenty-four bottle container 110 in accordance with the second preferred embodiment.
Figure 14, for illustrative purposes, shows four identical twenty-four bottle containers 110 arranged with two containers llOa and llOb in a bottom row in side-by-side abutting adjacent relation. The container llOc in the middle row is disposed to extend perpendicular across the two lower containers llOa and llOb. Container llOd is in a top row disposed directly on top of container llOc. Figure 15 shows a cross-sectional side view along line 15-15' of Figure 14 and best illustrates the interaction of the containers of the second embodiment and bottles 11 they carry.
Container 110 comprises an open-topped rectangular box with a rectangular base 112 and four side walls upstanding from about the periphery of base 112, indicated for convenience as side, side walls 114 and end side walls 116. Base 112 has an upper surface or top 118 and a lower outer surface or bottom 120.

- - 16 - 2113~18 ~ ach side wall has about the upper periphery thereof a top abutment surface 160, inside locating surfaces generally indicated as 162 and exterior side abutment surfaces 164. The exterior side abutment surfaces 164 on each container serve to abut exterior side abutment surfaces of adjacent containers in the same horizontal row so as to position the adjacent containers in abutting adjacent relation.
The base has on its bottom 120 about the periphery of the base, peripheral bottom abutment surfaces 166 and perimeter locating surfaces 168 complimentary to the top abutment surfaces 160 and the inside locating surfaces 162, respectively. When containers 110 are stacked upon each other with side walls in vertical alignment as seen, for example, in Figure 15 in the manner container llOd stacks above container llOc, the top abutment surfaces 160 of lower container llOc engage the peripheral bottom abutment surfaces 166 of the upper container llOd to support the upper container. As well, peripheral locating surfaces 168 of upper container llOd engage the inside locating surfaces 162 of the side walls of the lower container llOc to couple the upper container llOd to the lower container llOc together against lateral sliding.
Base top 118 has twenty-four bottle bottom retaining devices 170 each of which is to receive the bottom ~ ~ - 17 - 2~3~8 . .
of a bottle 11 therein locating the bottle 11 and retaining it against substantial lateral movement relative to top 118. As seen from Figures 10 and 12, the bottle bottom retaining devices 170 are formed by a circular ring 172 integral with top 170 upstanding therefrom, so as to provide interior locating walls 174 to engage bottom side surfaces of bottles 11. The bottom bottle receiving devices 170 are disposed equally spaced in a regular array on top 118. As indicated in Figures 10 and 12, the rings 172 are centered distances 2x from each other along lines perpendicular to the side walls, with the center of each ring a distance x from the exterior side abutment surfaces 164. The container 110 has a length of 12x and a width of 8x.
A base bottom 120 has twenty-four bottle top receiving devices 176, each of which is to receive the top of a bottle 11 therein to retain the bottle top against substantial lateral movement relative to bottom 120. As seen from Figures 11 and 12, the bottle top retaining devices 176 are formed by a circular ring 178 integral with bottom 120 extending downwardly therefrom so as to provide interior locating walls 180 to engage top side surfaces of the bottle 11. Fach bottle top retaining device 176 is disposed centrally below a corresponding bottle bottom retaining device 170 on top 118, as with rings 178 coaxial with a corresponding ring 172.

Returning to Figure 15, when identical containers llOc and llOd are stacked vertically one above the other, the bottle top retaining devices 176 of upper container llOd are in vertically aligned registry with bottle bottom retaining devices 170 of container llOc. Bottles 11 in container llOc have their bottoms retained in bottle bottom retaining devices 170 of container llOc and their tops retained in bottle top retaining devices 178 of container llOd. These bottles 11 are thus retained against tipping or contact between one another. As is preferred, the top 120 of container llOd bears against the upper surface of the bottles 11 so that the bottles assist the side walls 114 and 116 in bearing the load of stacked containers.
Figure 15 shows containers llOc and llOd stacked vertically aligned. Container llOc is, however, stacked perpendicular to containers llOa and llOb in an interlocking manner as is greatly advantageous when the containers are to be stacked on a pallet. To permit stacking in this manner, base bottom 120 is provided with twenty-four rectangular ring members 182 integral with the bottom and extending downwardly therefrom. The ring members 182 have outermost walls which serve as locating surfaces to engage the inside locating surfaces 162 of the side walls 114 and 116 of containers in a lower row. Where these outermost walls of ring member 182 are adjacent the periphery of base 112, the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ - lg - ~1~301~

locating surfaces form the perimeter locating surfaces 168 already described. Where these outermost walls of the ring members 182 are not adjacent the periphery of base 112, the locating surfaces form interior locating surfaces 184.
Between the ring members 182, areas are defined on bottom 120 generally designated 186 which form interior abutment surfaces. These interior abutment surfaces 186 extend along lines perpendicular to the side walls 114 or 116 intermediate the bottle top retaining devices 176, in effect with interior locating surfaces 184 on either side thereof.
As seen in Figure 15 where container llOc overlies the two adjacent side side walls 114 of adjacent abutting containers llOa and llOb of the bottom row, the top abutment surfaces 160 of the two side walls 114 of lower containers llOa and llOb engage the interior abutment surfaces 186 of upper container llOc to support upper container llOc and with interior locating surfaces 184 of box llOc engaging inside locating surfaces 162 of each of the two adjacent side walls 114 received therebetween to couple upper container llOc to the two lower containers llOa and llOb against lateral sliding.
As seen in Figure 15, the end side wall 116 of container llOc at the left-hand side of the Figure is in vertical alignment with the end side wall 114 of box llOa with the top abutment surfaces 160 of container llOa ~, .... . . _ . .. ...

~ . - 20 - 2113018 engaging peripheral bottom abutment surfaces 166 of container llOc and with perimeter locating surfaces 168 of container llOc engaging inside locating surfaces 162 of con~ainer llOa. Whenever boxes are stacked with boxes in a lower row placed in adjacent abutting relation with their exterior side abutment surfaces 164 in abutment with adjacent boxes, and boxes for an upper row are placed on the lower row with the bottle top retaining devices 176 of the upper row in vertical aligned registry with bottle bottom retaining devices 170 of the containers in the lower row, then either side walls of the lower container will be vertically aligned with side walls of the upper container or the side walls of the lower box will be disposed on the interior abutment surfaces 186 of the upper container between interior locating surfaces 184 on the bottom of the upper container.
Figure 14 merely shows three identical twenty-four bottle containers in accordance with the second embodiment.
Figures 16 and 17 show a twelve-bottle container and a six-bottle container adapted to form with the twenty-four bottle container of Figures 10 to 12, a preferred set of modular containers which can provide recyclable, stackable containers for twenty-four, twelve or six bottles. These twenty-four, twelve and six bottle containers may be stacked in a manner to maximize interlocking and avoid the need - 21 - 2113~18 for interior walls. The container o~ Figure 16 is of a width 4x and a length 12x while the container of Figure 17 is of a width 2x and a length 12x. With each of the three containers having a length 12x, they can be.placed so as to extend across one and a half times the width of any twenty-four bottle container, engaging two side side walls 114 thereof or placed to extend the length of any container engaging both end side walls 116. Other configurations of containers which would be useful are twelve bottle containers of dimensions 6x by 8x. Six bottle containers of dimensions 4x by 6x could be utilized, however, in that instance, it would be preferred to have interior walls in any twenty-four bottle container which would have twice the thickness of the exterior side walls 116 or 114 and be provided, for example, centered a distance 6x from each end side wall 116.
Figure 13 shows a bottle retainer 190 for use with a twenty-four bottle container of the second embodiment.
The bottle retainer 190 comprises a thin planar sheet of plastic having a plurality of circular apertures 192 spaced so that the retainer 190 may be vertically slid down inside the box with each of the apertures 192 to be engaged about the neck of a bottle 11 as best illustrated in Figure 15.
Retainer plate 190 serves, when the container 110 does not have a container stacked on top thereof, to retain the tops .
- 22 - 2~ 13 018 of the bottles and to keep the bottles from tipping or from contacting each other as, for example, when a container full of bottles is transported individually home from a store by a purchaser. Retaining plate 190 also can serve as a convenient location to print advertising or the like to indicate the nature of the product provided in the container. When the bottles are desired to be removed from the container 110, the retaining plate 190 may be withdrawn as, for example, by engaging center finger hole 194. The retaining plate 190 may then be kept in the container 112 as, for example, by being oriented in a vertical plane and slid down into the container 110 between a row of bottles.
Container 110 is preferably formed so that the container base and side walls form a waterproof container.
This is advantageous, for example, to permit ice and water to be placed in the container amongst the bottles so that the container may function as a cooler. When being used as a cooler, retaining plate 190 can be seen as advantageous to assist in maintaining the bottles in a cooled state for a longer period of time.
Figure 14 also shows a customized pallet 196 having a top 198 and downward extending support flanges 200. The support flanges 200 are, as in a known manner, useful to permit the prongs of a forklift to pass under the pallet. The top surface of the pallet is provided with a - 23 ~ 21~3~8 series of rectangular rings 202 which are sized to be received externally outside rectangular rings 182 of the bottoms 116 of any containers with a view to providing for interlocking of containers stacked on the pallet to the pallet base so as to prevent lateral movement therebetween.
Many other interlocking systems between the pallet base and the container could be provided. While not shown, a pallet top cover could be provided, for example, not dissimilar to the cover illustrated in Figure 9 but adapted, for example, to cover and interlock with the walls of all containers stacked into a regular cube on top of the pallet base 196.
The use of such interlocking pallet bases and pallet tops should provide increased stability, particularly when the containers are stacked in the pallet in an interlocking manner. This system, thus, should avoid the need for providing reinforcing such as metal straps or plastic sheeting about the entire pallet as is presently necessary with many stackable containers to ensure the containers do not shift on a pallet during shipment and handling.
Figure 18 shows a schematic partially cross-sectioned pictorial view of a container 210 in accordance with a third embodiment. In Figure 18, similar reference numerals to those used in Figures 10 to 12 show similar elements. In the third embodiment of Figure 18, the bottle bottom retaining devices 176 are provided as circular . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - 24 ~ 2~.~3~ 8 recesses in base bottom 118 with side walls of the circular recesses forming the interior locating walls 174. ~xterior cylindrical surfaces of the recesses in ef~ect form interior locating surfaces 184.
Containers such as the first embodiment shown in Figure 1 and the third embodiment shown in Figure 18 have a base construction which is preferred insofar as the indentations in the base itself provide, in effect, a reinforcing truss-like structure which strengthens the base of the container and generally can permit the base to be made of increased strength with less material.
The first embodiment shown in Figure 1 has exterior side abutment surfaces formed by upper bumper 38 and lower lip 40. These are preferred to the entire side wall providing exterior side abutment surfaces as in the second embodiment so that minor deformities in the side walls will not prevent proper abutment of containers in a row in aligned adjacent manner.
It is appreciated, however, that the overall thickness of the side walls 114 and 116, as shown in Figure 15, is to be such that the distance from the inside locating surface 132 to the exterior side abutment surface 164 is y;
the distance between the perimeter locating surfaces 168 and the exterior side abutment surfaces 164 is also y; and the distance between two opposed interior locating surfaces 184 .. .. , . , , , _ _ . .

-~ - 25 - 2113018 is 2y. Any handles or other features provided on the side walls need to conform so that they do not extend externally beyond the exterior side abutment surfaces 164.
The containers in accordance with the presen~
invention preferably to be formed from plastic materials as by injection molding and possibly with a plastic impregnated with reinforcing fibers.
While the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it is not so limited.
Many variations and modifications will now occur to persons skilled in the art. For a definition of the invention, reference is made to the appended claims.

Claims (6)

1. A modular, rectangular bottle container, stackable upon an identical container, comprising a base having an inner side, an outer side and a periphery; side walls having upper peripheries; and end walls having upper peripheries;
wherein said base on said inner side has:
a grid-like network of a plurality of substantially circular protrusions, each protrusion adapted to be received by the recess in the base of a bottle and which defines on said outside of said base a substantially circular recess adapted to receive the top of a bottle; and a plurality of continuous rectangular protrusions along the length and breadth of said base between said circular protrusions and which on said outside of said base define a grid-like network of channels between said circular recesses;
said base periphery of said container and said upper peripheries of said side walls and said end walls of said identical container are of such dimensions and shapes as to allow said base to operably abut said upper peripheries of said side walls and said end walls of said identical container in a stackable, stable arrangement;

said upper peripheries of said side walls and said end walls having a width that is not greater than one half the width of said channels; whereby said channels can operably receive said upper peripheries of one or two side walls or end walls; and wherein said side walls and said end walls have a height to operably allow a bottle to be retained between said circular protrusion of said identical container and said circular recess of said container, when said base operably abuts said upper peripheries of said side walls and said end walls of said identical container.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein said peripheries of said side walls and end walls of said identical container have an inner step within said identical container to operably receive said periphery of said base of said container such that said base nests within said container.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said end walls has a recess for use as hand gripping handle means.

4. A container as claimed in claim 1 having corner support members.

5. A detachable cover for use with a container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, which cover has a plurality of circular recesses on a lower side so arranged as to operably receive and retain the top of bottles within said container.

6. A modular carrier comprising an open-top rectangular box with a rectangular base having a top, a bottom and a periphery with four side walls upstanding from the periphery, each wall having about an upper periphery thereof a top abutment surface and inside locating surfaces, the base having peripheral bottom abutment surfaces about the periphery thereof complimentary to the top abutment surfaces, the base having perimeter locating surfaces, a plurality of bottle bottom retaining means on the top, each to locate a bottom of a bottle therein, the bottom bottle retaining means disposed equally spaced in a regular rectangular array on the top, a plurality of bottle top retaining means on the bottom, each to locate a top of a bottle therein, each bottle top retaining means disposed centrally below a corresponding bottle bottom retaining means, wherein with boxes stacked vertically with bottle bottom retaining means in upper and lower boxes in vertically aligned registry, bottles in a lower box are retained against tipping with their bottoms received in a bottle bottom retaining means in a lower box and their tops received in bottle top retaining means in an upper box, each side wall including exterior side abutment surfaces to abut side abutment surfaces of adjacent boxes to position them in abutting adjacent relation, the base further comprising interior abutment surfaces on the bottom disposed intermediate the bottle top retaining means along lines perpendicular to the side walls, and, interior locating means on either side of the interior abutment surfaces, wherein when boxes are arranged in a lower row with adjacent boxes in abutting adjacent relation and an upper box is placed into an upper row above a lower row with bottle bottom retaining means of the upper box in vertically aligned registry with bottle bottom retaining means of boxes of the lower row, it follows that:

A. where walls of an upper and lower box are in vertical alignment: the top abutment surfaces of a lower box engage the peripheral bottom abutment surfaces of the upper box to support the upper box with perimeter locating surfaces of the upper box engaging inside locating surfaces of the lower box to couple the upper box to the lower box against lateral sliding; and B. where two adjacent walls of abutting adjacent lower boxes in a lower row underlie the base of an upper box other than in vertical alignment under side walls of an upper box, the top abutment surfaces of the two side walls of the lower adjacent boxes engage the interior abutment surfaces on the bottom of the upper box with the interior locating means of the upper box engaging inside locating surfaces of each of the two adjacent walls received therebetween to couple the upper box to the two lower boxes against lateral sliding.