EP0162162B1

EP0162162B1 - Crate

Info

Publication number: EP0162162B1
Application number: EP84303473A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Michael James Warwick
Original assignee: Teknol Holdings Inc
Current assignee: Metal Box South Africa Ltd
Priority date: 1984-02-20
Filing date: 1984-05-22
Publication date: 1989-12-20
Also published as: GB2158044B; GB2158044A; ZA841225B; GB8410942D0; EP0162162A1

Description

This invention relates to a bottle crate.
Because of the high cost of plastic materials, it has been proposed to make a bottle crate relatively short, and to provide on the bottom of the crate zones which are capable of sitting on the closure or tops of bottles in subjacent crates to enable crates containing bottles to be stacked. These crates also have the advantage that they occupy considerably less volume than full crates and larger numbers of empty crates can be stored or transported in a particular space. A disadvantage of the crates of this kind known to the Applicant is the relative instability of these crates when stacked.
Typical crates of the aforesaid nature are disclosed in Belgian Patent No. BE-A-693216 and German Patent No. DE-A-1486412. A further relevant document is WO 82/01536.
The most relevant of the documents are DE-A-1486412 and WO 82/01536. DE-A-1486412 shows a crate with depending and upstanding formations for engaging bottles. However, neither type of formation is in the form of a socket for each bottle, and the upstanding formation is only a surrounding rim.
WO 82/01536 again has upwardly and downwardly extending formations, necks of bottles being securely gripped (because the crate of WO 82/01536 is a "hang" bottle carrier) but the upwardly extending formations give only slight restraint to bottles thereabove making it unsuitable as a base-like support for bottles.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a bottle crate which has stability when stacked and which also has certain of the advantages of the above mentioned crates.
The invention provides a bottle crate comprising a base, a plurality of primary formations, upstanding from the base and defining primary sockets for receiving lower portions of the bottles, a plurality of secondary formations depending from the base and defining secondary sockets for receiving upper portions of bottles, each secondary formation and its socket being disposed beneath and in register with a primary socket (see WO 82/01536) characterised:-

(i) in that each secondary formation is dimensioned to be capable of being accommodated within a said primary socket to enable the crate to be nested with empty similar crates;
(ii) in that the base and the primary formations form a stable tilt resistant support for a group of filled bottles;
(iii) in that each primary socket can surround a portion of a base of a bottle thereabove and form an individual support therefor sufficient to contain it within the crate during storage and handling and to form an interengagement between the crate and each individual bottle capable of resisting relative tilting movement between the crate and bottle; and
(iv) in that each secondary socket is dimensioned to be a close sliding fit with a subjacent bottle neck to enable the crate to be slidingly engaged with and disengaged from subjacent bottles whilst each secondary socket forms with a subjacent bottle an interengagement which resists relative tilting movement between each secondary formation and a subjacent bottle.

As used herein to described the relationship between the downwardly open secondary formations of the crate and the neck/finish of a subjacent bottle of the phrase "close sliding fit" means that the neck/finish of the subjacent bottle can be slidingly received within the depending formation without any interlock or positive engagement but sufficiently closely to restrain significant relative tilting movement between the subjacent bottle and the superjacent crate.
The formations defining the secondary sockets may each have any suitably disposed inner surfaces or surfaces for engaging shoulder portions of bottles received in the secondary sockets in such a way that the crate can be supported on the shoulder portions of the bottles. This enables bottles extending into the primary sockets of one crate and into the secondary sockets of a crate located above it to support the upper crate. Thus, crates in which bottles are located can be stacked above one another to hold the bottles in position even if the height of each crate body is much less than the height of the bottles and the crates located one above another do not touch each other.
The crate may be formed of moulded plastics material, preferably as a unitary crate, the formations then being integral with the body.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is an under plan view of a crate;
Figure 2 is a plan view of the same crate;
Figure 3 is a side view of the crate, sectioned on the line I-I in Figure 1; and
Figure 4 is a side view of the crate, sectioned on the line II-II in Figure 1.

The crate shown in the drawing is a one-piece crate of moulded plastics material, designed for receiving bottles of a predetermined shape. The crate comprises a body with a base 10 and secondary formations 12 integral with and primarily depending downwardly from the base, ten such secondary sockets 12 being provided in the embodiment shown.
The body defines twelve uniformly positioned primary sockets 14. The sockets are bordered by a peripheral wall 16 of the body and hollow pillar- like formations 18 spaced from the wall 16 and extending upwardly from the base. Each primary socket is intended snugly to receive the lower portion of a bottle.
Immediately beneath and co-axially aligned with each of ten of the primary sockets 14 there is a secondary socket 20, each secondary socket 20 being formed within a respective secondary formation 12. As the drawings show, each secondary formation 12 is double-walled and is provided with strengthening webs 22. An inner wall of each secondary formation 12 provides an annular, inclined and concave inner shoulder surface 24 for engaging a concave shoulder portion of a bottle having a neck extending into the secondary socket 12. The face 24 is profiled to suit particular bottles with which the crate is to be used. Ribs 26 extend inwardly from the wall 22 of each secondary formation 12 to guide and locate the neck and a closure member of a bottle. Each formation 12 is designed so that, when its surface 24 engages the shoulder portion of a bottle, the closure member on the bottle is spaced from annular flange 28 towards the upper part of the respective formation, thus reducing the likelihood of damage to the closure member.
The upper part of each secondary formation 12 is an annular rim 30 which extends upwardly above the level of the base for engaging the bottom of a bottle received in the primary socket 14 if the bottom of the bottle is flat or slightly concave. Similar annular rims 32 are provided in primary sockets 14 which are not above formations 12. However, the base is provided with annular surfaces 34 at the bottom of each of the primary sockets 14 for engaging the bottom of a bottle if the bottom of the bottle is concave to such an extent that the bottle will not rest on a rim 30 or 32.
The primary sockets 14 and secondary formations 12 are dimensioned and located so that, when crates similar to that shown are stacked one on top of another, the secondary formations 12 of one crate extending downwardly into the primary sockets 14 of another crate and are substantially wholly received within the primary sockets 14. This means that the total height of the crates, when stacked, is substantially less than the cumulative total of the heights of all of the crates.
When the crates are in use transporting bottles, the lower portions of the bottles are located in the primary sockets 14 and are snugly received therein. One crate containing bottles is then stacked on top of another crate containing bottles so those bottles having their lower portions in the primary sockets 14 of one crate also have their upper portions in the secondary sockets 20 of another crate. The inner surfaces 24 of the secondary sockets 20 engage the shoulders of these bottles, and the upper crate is therefore supported on the bottles of the lower crate. The design of the formations and sockets is such that undesirable tilting or rocking of the stacked crates is limited.
In order to enable the crates to be carried manually, two formations 12 have been omitted from locations 36 opposite ends of the crate, as shown. In those locations 36, the ends of the crates are provided with square U-shaped ribs 38 each with a hollow central part 40 and spaced limbs 42 to provide a hand grip arrangement on the bottom of the base.

Claims

1. A bottle crate comprising a base (10), a plurality of primary formations (16, 18), upstanding from the base (10) and defining primary sockets (14) for receiving lower portions of the bottles, a plurality of secondary formations (12) depending from the base (10) and defining secondary sockets (20) for receiving upper portions of bottles, each secondary formation (12) and its socket (20) being disposed beneath and in register with a primary socket (14) characterised:-

(i) in that each secondary formation (12) is dimensioned to be capable of being accommodated within a said primary socket (14) to enable the crate to be nested with empty similar crates;

(ii) in that the base (10) and the primary formations (16, 18) form a stable tilt resistant support for a group of filled bottles;

(iii) in that each primary socket (14) can surround a portion of a base of a bottle thereabove and form an individual support therefor sufficient to contain it within the crate during storage and handling and to form an interengagement between the crate and each individual bottle capable of resisting relative tilting movement between the crate and bottle; and

(iv) in that each secondary socket (20) is dimensioned to be a close sliding fit with a subjacent bottle neck to enable the crate to be slidingly engaged with and disengaged from subjacent bottles whilst each secondary socket (20) forms with a subjacent bottle an interengagement which resists relative tilting movement between each secondary formation (12) and a subjacent bottle.

2. A bottle crate as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that hand grip arrangements are provided for lifting the filled crate.

3. A crate as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the secondary formations (12) defining the secondary sockets (20) have suitably disposed inner surface means (24) for engaging shoulder portions of subjacent bottles so that the crate can be supported on shoulder portions of the subjacent bottles.

4. A crate as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that on the secondary formations (12), or on the body, there are means (26) for restricting or inhibiting movement of the necks of bottles extending into the secondary sockets in directions transverse to the axes of the bottles.

5. A crate according to any preceding claim characterised in that it is formed of moulded plastics material as a unitary body, the formations being integral with the base.