EP0275919B1 - Crate, particularly one made of plastic material, for the receipt of containers, especially bottles - Google Patents

Abstract

In the crate, a handle is formed in one side wall by a grip strip which extends perpendicular to the plane of the crate bottom and is bounded on both sides by gripping openings or recesses which are open at the top. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a box according to the preamble of claim 1.

In particular, the invention relates to a bottle crate made of plastic, which has a compartment division for receiving the bottles in the usual way. Bottle crates of this type usually have handles which are formed by substantially rectangular through openings in opposite narrow sides of a bottle crate. These push-through openings are arranged in such a way that a cross bar remains above them, which forms the handle of the bottle crate. For handling, in particular for transporting, these boxes are gripped with both hands, each hand being inserted through a through opening and encompassing the carrying bar remaining above the through opening. Such handles have undoubtedly proven themselves, which is why they are used predominantly, if not exclusively, in the bottle crates in question.

So far one has mainly found these handles on bottle crates because one suspected an ergonomically favorable grip behavior due to their arrangement and design, so it was surprisingly found that, from an ergonomic point of view, a wearing behavior is particularly expedient in which the bottle crate has only one Hand is gripped and the bottle crate is directed sideways slightly obliquely downwards. This allows the bottle crate to be carried comfortably with only one hand without the bottles contained therein falling out.

The object of the invention is to provide a bottle crate which enables such wearing behavior. This should be ensured by structurally simple measures which essentially do not weaken the bottle crate, enable simple manufacture of the bottle crate in terms of production technology, and also allow stacking of bottle crates.

This object is achieved by the features contained in the characterizing part of claim 1.

According to the invention, the bottle crate is characterized in that the handle is formed by a vertical, that is perpendicular to the bottom of the bottle crate handle bar, which can be gripped because appropriate handle openings or recesses are provided on both sides of the handle bar. Such a handle allows, if it is conveniently arranged on opposite side walls of a bottle crate, a gripping of a bottle crate on both sides, but in particular it allows a comfortable grasping of the bottle crate with only one hand, so that the other hand for other purposes Is available, such as opening a door or the trunk lid of a vehicle.

In this context, it is expedient if the handle is formed essentially centrally in the side wall. The arrangement of the handle bar in the upper half of the box is particularly preferred. The handle bar is expediently arranged above a level which contains the center of gravity of the bottle crate and runs parallel to the crate bottom. This arrangement has the advantage that the grip bar is above the center of gravity of the crate and thus the tilting moment of the bottle crate is minimized. If such a bottle crate is gripped with one hand, it can be comfortably carried with one hand in a position in which the bottle crate protrudes slightly from the carrier so that the bottles cannot fall out and the side wall and the bottom of the bottle crate from the carrier the box are directed away, which avoids the risk of contamination of the person carrying the box due to contact with the bottle crate.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the grip strip is part of a continuous support profile, which increases the stability of a bottle crate by further stiffening it. A robust design is also ensured in that the handle bar is formed by a hollow profile.

The carrying can be further improved by the fact that the handle bar at its upper end merges into a transverse spar (either one side or both sides of the handle bar), whereby the bottle crate can also be carried in the usual way by including a transverse bar. This bottle crate then enables both the wearing behavior desired according to the invention and the previously customary carrying of a bottle crate by gripping the crate on both sides.

Finally, according to an expedient development, the wearing behavior is further favored by the fact that, in particular in the region of the vertical grip bar, lamellar ribs are provided which run parallel to one another and closely spaced apart, and / or the grip bar has roughened grip surfaces.

• Fig. 1 eine schematische perspektivische Teilansicht einer Ausführungsform eines Flaschenkastens,
• Fig. 2 eine teilweise geschnittene Seitenansicht einer entsprechenden Ausführungsform eines Flaschenkastens, wobei die linke Hälfte der Fig. 2 einen Teilschnitt von Fig. 3 zeigt,
• Fig. 3 eine Draufsicht auf den in Fig. 2 dargestellten Flaschenkasten, wobei die obere Hälfte links einen Teilschnitt aus Fig. 2 und die untere Hälfte links ebenfalls einen Teilschnitt aus Fig. 2 zeigt, sowie
• Fig. 4 eine Seitenansicht einer Schmalseite des dargestellten Flaschenkastens, wobei die linke Hälfte einen Teilschnitt aus Fig. 3 zeigt.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the drawings. In it show:

• 1 is a schematic perspective partial view of an embodiment of a bottle crate,
• Fig. 2 is a partially sectioned side view of a corresponding Ausfüh form of a bottle crate, the left half of FIG. 2 showing a partial section of FIG. 3,
• 3 shows a top view of the bottle crate shown in FIG. 2, the upper half on the left showing a partial section from FIG. 2 and the lower half on the left also showing a partial section from FIG. 2, and
• FIG. 4 shows a side view of a narrow side of the bottle crate shown, the left half showing a partial section from FIG. 3.

FIG. 1 shows schematically a perspective view of part of a bottle crate denoted by 1 from its narrow side, conventional components of a bottle crate, such as in particular the compartment division, being omitted to simplify the illustration. A handle 3 formed in the narrow side wall 2 has a vertically extending handle strip 4 which is delimited on both sides by through openings 5a and 5b. Both the handle bar 4 and the access openings 5a and 5b are dimensioned in terms of their length and width in such a way that you can reach through the access openings 5a and 5b by hand and grasp the handle bar 4.

The grip strip 4, which can preferably be arranged on one or both narrow sides of the bottle crate, but also if necessary on the long sides of the bottle crate, is central in the exemplary embodiment shown, ie. H. arranged along the central axis of the side wall 2 designated by M.

The through-openings 5a and 5b can have any suitable shape, in particular be semicircular or in the form of a semi-ellipse. In the illustrated embodiment, the through openings 5a and 5b have an L-shaped plan. This is because, in the exemplary embodiment shown, the grip strip 4 merges at its upper end into a cross member of the bottle crate, designated 6, which represents the upper part of the bottle crate. This cross member 6 expediently has a height in the illustrated embodiment, which allows a comfortable grasping of the handle 6 by hand, so that the bottle crate can also be gripped in the usual way along a horizontally extending handle bar formed here by the cross member 6. In addition to the vertical handle bar 4, one or more handles of a conventional type can be provided, in particular on the side walls free of the vertical handle bar 4, which, for example, by i. W. rectangular passage opening are formed so that the cross bar remaining at the top of the box can serve as a handle.

It can be seen in particular from FIG. 3 that the grip strip 4 is designed as a hollow profile. In the present exemplary embodiment, the grip strip 4 is a section of a support profile 7 which can be seen more clearly in FIG. 2 and which extends from the upper box end to the box bottom at 8. This support profile 7 serves to stabilize, in particular stiffen, the bottle crate 1. This support profile 7 can, as is indicated by dash-dotted lines at the top left in FIG. 2, have a projection 9 which projects beyond the upper end of the crate and serves as a stacking aid. For this purpose, a corresponding depression is formed on the bottom of the box, which, however, is not shown in the drawing, in which the bottle box located below with its projection 9 is immersed. This stabilizes a stack of bottles.

As can be seen in particular from FIGS. 3, bottom right and FIG. 4 top left, the cross bar 6 is provided with lamella-like ribs 10 running parallel to one another and closely spaced apart, which improve the grip behavior of a handle. These lamellas or lamellar ribs 10 are also provided on the handle bar, in particular on the part of the handle bar 4 facing the inside of the box. For the sake of simplicity, the lamellae of the handle bar are not shown in the drawing. These slats expediently extend vertically or horizontally. According to a further embodiment, the grip surfaces of the grip strip 4 are roughened, which also improves the grip behavior. Finally, an additional handle 11 can be seen in FIG. 2, right half, which delimits a transverse bar 12 at the top similar to the transverse bar 6, which ultimately serves as a carrying handle.

According to further embodiments not shown in the drawing, the access openings on both sides of the handle are not closed, as in the illustrations in FIGS. 1 to 4, but are open at the top, that is to say formed by cutouts, so that the handle has a free end over the the lower side wall area protrudes upwards.

Claims (11)

1. A case, especially of synthetic material, to receive containers such as bottles, the case having at least one handle formed in a side wall thereof for handling the case, side walls of the case and internal transverse compartment walls forming a compartment division for the bottles to be received, characterized in that the handle (3) is formed by at least one handle strip (4) extending at right angles to the plane of the bottom of the case, which handle strip is limited at both sides thereof by reach-through openings (5a,5b) or recesses in the side wall (2) of the case (1).

2. A case according to claim 1, characterized in that the handle (3) is formed by a handle strip (4) extending along the central axis (M) of the side wall (2).

3. A case according to any one of the claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said handle strip (4) is disposed in each narrow side of the bottle case (1).

4. A case according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the handle strip (4) extends substantially in the upper half of the case.

5. A case according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the handle strip (4) is disposed above a plane containing the centre of gravity of the bottle case (1) and extending parallel to the bottom (8) of the case.

6. A case according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the handle strip (4) is formed by a hollow section.

7. A case according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the handle strip (4) forms a portion of a support profile (7) extending from the upper end of the case without interruption to the bottom (8) of the case.

8. A case according to claim 7, characterized in that the support profile (7) protrudes beyond the upper end (near 9) of the case.

9. A case according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the handle strip (4) passes at its upper end into transverse strips (6) which form carrying handles.

10. A case according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the handle strips are provided at least in part with elongate lamellalike ribs (10) extending parallel and spaced close to each other.

11. A case according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the handle strip (4) has roughened grasping surfaces.

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