EP0471308B1 - Plastic bottle crate - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a bottle crate (1) with a framework having at least one insertion compartment (10), a bottle being insertable from above into each insertion compartment (10) and the bottle being surrounded in the insertion compartment (10) by compartment walls (13) and being held by at least one holding element (20), provided on at least one of the compartment walls (13). This bottle crate (1) is simple to produce by virtue of the fact that at least one compartment wall (13) has a wall section extending from the vertical centre line of the compartment wall, that the wall section is designed resiliently in a substantially radial direction with respect to the centre axis of the insertion compartment (10) and that the holding element (20) is arranged on this resiliently designed wall section at a distance from the vertical centre line of the compartment wall. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a bottle crate made of plastic with a compartment having at least one insertion compartment, a bottle being adjustable from above in each adjustment compartment, the bottle being surrounded by compartment walls in the insertion compartment and being held by at least one holding element which is arranged on at least one of the compartment walls. which has a wall section extending from the vertical compartment wall center line, and wherein the holding member is arranged on it in a substantially radial direction to the central axis of the setting compartment, the wall section being arranged at a distance from the vertical compartment wall center line.

Such a bottle crate is known from DE-U-88 06 169.

Bottle crates designed in this way are used in the beverage industry for the transport and storage of bottles. The bottle crates have outer box walls provided with openings, the label of the bottles in the box being recognizable via the openings. In order to ensure that the bottles are held securely in the compartments, the compartments are provided with holding elements which rest against the bottle wall when a bottle is placed in the compartment. This has the advantage that the bottles occupy a certain position in their compartments, being held in this position by the holding member. This prevents the bottle from moving within the setting compartment. This not only protects the bottle and prevents damage to the bottle, it also makes it easier to empty the bottle crate automatically, since the bottles are now in a defined position in the setting compartment and the bottle gripper can grip the bottle neck in a targeted manner. Furthermore, the holding members engaging on the bottle walls have the advantage that the bottles are prevented from twisting in the compartments. If the bottles are aligned with their bottle labels in such a way that the bottle label can be viewed through one of the openings in a box wall, the bottle is fixed in this position in the setting compartment by the holding members. For this, however, it is necessary that the holding members are designed to be elastic so that they rest against the bottle wall under a certain force. With the DE-OS 33 00 590, the DE-OS 25 56 449, the DE-GM 18 07 883 and the DE-GM 18 83 773 bottle crates are known in which the holding members are designed as elastic means. These holding members are supported on the compartment wall and are under spring force against the wall of the bottle set in the setting compartment in such a way that the bottle is fixed and secured against twisting. To ensure this, the holding members must have a certain shape so that at least a portion of the holding member is deflected from the bottle in such a way that the holding member is deformed, whereby a restoring force which presses the deflected section against the bottle wall is generated. Holding members designed in this way have a complicated structure, so that they can only be produced with complex injection molding tools. They also need to be trained Retaining members a lot of space in the adjustment compartment, since there must be enough space for the deformation of the holding member.

In the DE-U-88 06 169 cited to the preamble of claim 1, the compartment walls in the interior of the bottle crate are partially separated by a recess located centrally in the compartment wall of each setting compartment in order to save material. On both sides of this recess, the compartment walls have retaining ribs projecting into the interior of the compartment, which contribute to holding the bottle accommodated in a compartment. The compartment wall sections left and right of these recesses are connected on the upper side with webs with compartment wall sections of the adjoining compartment and on the underside with the box base, so that the elasticity of these compartment wall webs is only slightly developed and thus the mounting ribs are only elastically deflected by a set bottle to a small extent can. It becomes practical if the bottle diameter is only a little larger than that of a standard bottle, the partition wall in the area of the partition walls mentioned practically bulges. If in such a bottle crate several bottles, the diameter of which is somewhat larger in the area of the bottle body, are to stand side by side in the adjustment compartments, the bulge mentioned can lead to the fact that a bottle cannot be inserted into the adjustment compartment or can only be forcibly pressed under pressure. Conversely, due to the low elasticity of the compartment wall webs and the low deflectability of the mounting ribs, somewhat narrower bottles are not held or only insufficiently by the mounting ribs of the bottle crate according to DE-U 88 06 169.

The invention is therefore based on the object of designing a bottle crate in such a way that the bottles are arranged in the compartments Bottles are held securely and also against twisting.

This object is achieved by the features characterized in claim 1.

The dependent claims 2 to 8 each characterize advantageous embodiments thereof.

In this bottle crate designed according to the invention, the compartment wall has a wall section which is resiliently connected to the compartment wall and lies in the plane of the compartment wall. This wall section is so elastic that it can be deflected out of the plane of the compartment wall. The wall section is connected to the compartment wall in such a way that it can be deflected in the radial direction with respect to the central longitudinal axis of the setting compartment or in a direction parallel to it. At the resilient end of the wall section, the holding member is now provided, which engages the bottle wall. The wall section is thus deflected from the bottle wall via the holding member. This has the essential advantage that the holding member, since it serves only as a force transmission means, can be designed simply, whereas the elastic part is formed by the wall section of the compartment wall, which, for. B. has the shape of a resilient tongue. Since this wall section is flat and lies in the plane of the compartment wall, no complicated and expensive injection mold is required for the production of this wall section. Furthermore, the spring constant can be determined by the projecting length of the wall section, whereas in the prior art the distance between the compartment wall and the bottle wall is the projection of the holding member and thus the Determined spring force, in which case the spring force is very limited by the usually small distance.

Characterized in that the compartment wall has a wall section on both sides of the compartment wall center line, the advantage is achieved that the one wall section on one side and the other wall section on the other side can be provided with a holding member, so that each time a bottle is inserted in the two compartments, the two wall sections are pivoted in the same direction of rotation around the center wall of the compartment, so that overall this compartment wall section undergoes torsion in the direction of the pivoting of a wall section. This configuration ensures gentle handling of the compartment wall.

Because each wall section is equipped with only one holding member, the wall section can be deflected when a bottle is inserted into the setting compartment into which the holding member protrudes.

The resilient arrangement of the wall section in such a way that its projecting end can be pivoted at least partially around the vertical center wall of the compartment wall is achieved in that the wall section is connected to the compartment wall in the region of the compartment wall center line and projects freely in the rest.

A further development provides that the holding members are rigid. This has the main advantage that it can be used e.g. B. in the form of knobs or the like. Have a simple shape and are therefore easy to manufacture by injection molding.

A simple embodiment provides that the wall section is formed by a vertical part of the compartment wall itself. The wall section also has the task of separating the individual compartments from each other.

The holding member is preferably designed as a rigid strip projecting into the setting compartment. Holding members designed in this way can be easily produced since they do not require any complicated injection molding tools.

In a preferred embodiment it is provided that the bar extends on the outer edge of the wall section, which is substantially vertical. In this way, the greatest possible spring travel of the wall section is used. This arrangement also ensures that the holding member is not provided in the center of the compartment on the compartment wall, so that the decentralized arrangement has the advantage that the width of the insertion compartment can correspond to the largest diameter of the bottle. There is therefore no need to provide additional space for the spring travel of the holding members. Although these are connected to the compartment wall via the wall section in the middle of the compartment wall, they are located in the edge region of the setting compartment.

An advantageous embodiment provides that the bar has an upper end which is chamfered upwards in the direction of the compartment wall. This considerably facilitates the insertion of a bottle into the setting compartment, since the bottle bottom can now slide past the holding member into the setting compartment via the beveled end. The holding element is gradually displaced from the setting compartment and the wall section is deformed. This is the case if there is none on the opposite side of the wall section, i.e. in the adjoining adjustment compartment Holding member is provided so that the wall section can penetrate into this setting compartment.

A further development provides that the bar is provided obliquely on the wall section with respect to the vertical direction, such that the distance from the lower end of the bar to the compartment wall center line is less than the distance from the upper end to the compartment wall center line. This oblique arrangement of the holding member on the wall section ensures that the deflection of the wall section becomes greater the further the bottle is pushed into the setting compartment. As a result, the forces required to deflect the wall section are advantageously distributed over part of the insertion path of the bottle into the setting compartment, so that the insertion of the bottle is hardly made more difficult.

One embodiment provides that in a compartment wall plane opposite wall sections of two adjustable compartments are separated by slots or recesses provided in the compartment wall and each wall section is connected to the compartment wall in its upper area and its area facing the compartment wall center line.

This results in the flexible design of the wall sections and a relatively high stiffness of the wall section, so that the latter can press the holding element against the bottle wall with a sufficiently high force and thereby hold the bottle securely in the setting compartment.

Figur 1

eine Seitenansicht des erfindungsgemäßen Flaschenkastens, teilweise abgebrochen;

Figur 2

einen Schnitt III-III gemäß Figur 3;

Figur 3

eine Draufsicht auf den Flaschenkasten, teilweise abgebrochen;

Figur 4

eine Bodenansicht des Flaschenkastens, teilweise abgebrochen; und

Figur 5

eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Ausschnitts aus dem Bodenbereich eines Einstellfachs, insbesondere die Halteorgane zeigend.

Further advantages, details and features of the invention result from the following description, in which a particularly preferred exemplary embodiment is described in detail with reference to the drawing. Show:

Figure 1

a side view of the bottle crate according to the invention, partially broken off;

Figure 2

a section III-III of Figure 3;

Figure 3

a plan view of the bottle crate, partially broken off;

Figure 4

a bottom view of the bottle crate, partially broken; and

Figure 5

a perspective view of a section of the bottom area of an adjustment compartment, in particular showing the holding members.

In Figure 1, a bottle crate is generally designated 1, which has an upper peripheral frame 2 at its upper end, on which he z. B. can be worn. This upper frame 2 closes box walls 3 to 6 (see Figures 3 and 4) at the top. Openings 7 are provided in these box walls. These openings 7 are separated from one another by vertical webs 8, which extend from a lower frame 9 to the upper frame 2. The openings 7 allow a lateral view into the bottle crate 1, in particular on a label of a bottle set in the bottle crate 1 or in one of its compartments 10. Furthermore, on the outside of the box wall 3 triangular raised bumps 11 can be seen, which should thereby cause sticking together of bottle crates 1 that they intervene between appropriately trained knobs that are provided on an adjacent box wall. Furthermore, the bottle crate 1 has feet 12 which are designed such that when bottle crates 1 are placed one on top of the other, they can be accommodated within the upper frame 2 of a bottle crate 1 underneath and rest against the inside of the frame 2, so that the upper crate is secured against slipping is.

Shelf walls 13 arranged in the interior of the bottle crate 1 can be seen through the openings 7. These compartment walls 13 subdivide the interior of the bottle crate 1 into the individual compartments 10, so that the bottles in the bottle compartment 1 are each arranged individually in an insertion compartment 10 and are secured there against knocking together by the compartment walls 13. These compartment walls 13 also have openings 14, which in particular facilitate cleaning of the bottle crate and reduce its overall weight.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the compartment wall 13 of an insertion compartment 10 consists of a vertical wall section 15 which is provided in the middle of the compartment wall 13. From the upper end of this wall section 15 extends z. B. under one An angle of 15 ° increasing on both sides a section 16 which meets corresponding sections 16 of the other compartment walls 13 in the edge region of the adjustment compartment 10 and is integrally connected there with them. The sections 16 thus form the upper end of the compartment wall 13, whereas the wall sections 15 demarcate the individual adjustment compartments 10 from one another and ensure that the bottle located in an adjustment compartment 10 cannot slide into an adjacent adjustment compartment 10. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the edge regions of the adjustment compartments 10 are open, apart from the region of the sections 16.

In Figure 2 it can be seen that the lower region of the wall section 15 is held only in the middle by a crosspiece 17 which extends directly above the foot 12 of the bottle crate 1 across the adjustment compartment 10. This transverse web 17 has triangular holding lugs 18 in the region of the wall sections 15, via which it bears on the wall section 15. The lower corners of the wall section 15 are therefore not supported.

Furthermore, it can be seen in FIG. 2 that the edge 19 of the wall section 15 which runs upwards, ie in the direction of the section 16, is provided in the lower half with an attached holding member 20. This holding member 20 is designed as a simple web 21 and is located within the contour of the wall section 15 in the view according to Figure 2. In addition, it can be seen that the webs 21 are not vertical, but z. B. are inclined at an angle of 3 ° such that their lower end approximates the center wall 22 of the compartment. The lower end of the web 21 extends to the transverse web 17, whereas the upper end of the web 21 extends approximately over 30 to 50% of the height of the adjustment compartment 10 extends. This upper end of the web 21 is provided with a bevel 23, so that a bottle to be inserted into the setting compartment 10 or the bottle bottom thereof is guided from the wall section 15 via the bevel 13 to the outer surface 24 of the web 21.

The top view of the bottle crate 1 shown in FIG. 3 shows that the webs 21 are not placed vertically on the wall section 15, but slightly inclined with their lower end in the direction of the crossbar 17. It can also be seen that the surface 24 facing a bottle located in the adjustment compartment 10 extends circumferentially about the vertical central axis of the adjustment compartment 10, ie the normal surface 24 extends radially on the axis of the adjustment compartment 10. If, in such a configuration of the web 21, a bottle is inserted into the setting compartment 10, the bottle bottom first engages the bevel 23 and displaces the web 21 from the setting compartment 10 by sliding along the bevel 23. A further insertion of the bottle into the setting compartment 10 causes the bottle bottom to slide gradually along the surface 24 along the web 21. Due to the inclined or inclined arrangement of the web 21, it is gradually displaced out of this setting compartment 10 as the bottle is pushed further into the setting compartment 10. This displacement causes an elastic deformation of the wall section 15 in the direction of the arrow 25, which can also be clearly seen in FIG. 5. The elastically deformed wall section 15 generates a restoring force which presses the web 21 against the bottle wall and thereby fixes the bottle in the adjustment compartment 10 on the one hand and secures it against twisting on the other hand. The restoring force is therefore not caused by elastic deformation of the holding member 20, but caused by an elastic deformation of the wall portion 15.

As can be clearly seen in FIGS. 3 to 5, this wall section 15 is at rest in the plane of the compartment wall 13, and only the webs 21 extend into the interior of the adjustment compartments 10. The displacement of the web 21 by the in the adjustment compartment 10 located bottle causes the wall section 15 to twist around the compartment wall center line, the displaced parts of the wall section 15 engaging in the respectively adjoining setting compartment 10. The displacement path for the element to be elastically deformed therefore does not have to be taken into account in the adjustment compartment 10, which has the advantage that the size of the adjustment compartments 10 can be adapted exactly to the size of the bottles to be adjusted.

The section of a perspective view of the lower region of an adjustment compartment 10 shown in FIG. 5 clearly shows the arrangement of the webs 21 in the lower edge region of the wall section 15, the webs 21 alternatingly, i.e. one web 21 each is provided for an adjustment compartment 10.

It can also be seen in FIG. 5 that the upper edge of the crosspiece 17, on which the bottles rest with their bottoms, is tapered in a wedge shape. This has the advantage that the cutting edge 26 of this upper edge can engage in the bottom corrugation of the bottle bottom of the bottles set in the setting compartment. This also makes it difficult to twist the bottles.

Claims (8)

1. Bottle case (1) made from plastic with a subdivided structure exhibiting at least one storage compartment (10), whereby a bottle can be introduced from above into each storage compartment (10) the bottle being surrounded in the storage compartment (10) from compartment walls (13) and being held by at least one holding member (20) which is arranged on at least one of the compartment walls (13) the walls exhibiting a wall section (15) extending from the vertical middle line of the compartment wall (22), and whereby the holding member (20) is arranged on this wall section (15), the section being configured to be elastic and to be formed largely radially in the direction of the middle axis of the storage compartment (10) at a separation relative to the vertical middle line of the compartment wall (22), characterized in that the compartment wall (13) exhibits an elastic wall section (15) on both sides of the vertical middle line of the compartment wall (22) which extends outward from this line, each elastic wall section (15) being provided with a holding member (20) at its projecting end whereby the holding members of a compartment wall are provided for on alternating sides, e.g. with one holding member per storage compartment and each elastic wall section (15) is arranged in such a fashion that it, with its projecting end, is pivotable at least partially about the vertical compartment wall middle line (22) in a radial direction relative to the middle axis of the corresponding neighbouring storage compartment (10) (arrow 25).
2. Bottle case according to claim 1 characterized in that the holding member (20) is configured in a rigid fashion.
3. Bottle case according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that the holding member (20) is configured as a projecting strip (21) rigidly formed in the storage compartment (10).
4. Bottle case according to claim 3 characterized in that the strip (21) extends along the largely vertical outer edge (19) of the wall section (15).
5. Bottle case according to claim 3 or 4 characterized in that the strip (21) exhibits an upper end (23) which slants in the direction of the wall section (15).
6. Bottle case according to one of the claim 3 through 5 characterized in that the strip (21) is arranged at the wall section (15) is such a fashion that its lower end lies closer to the middle line of the compartment wall (22) that its upper end.
7. Bottle case according to one of the previous claims characterized in that oppositely facing wall sections (15), each in a plane of a compartment wall, of two storage compartments (10) are separated by means of slits or openings (14) in the compartment wall (15) and each wall section (15), at an upper region and at a region facing the middle line of the compartment wall (22), is connected to the compartment wall (13).
8. Bottle case according to one of the previous claims characterized in that the storage compartment (10) exhibits a bottom comprising transverse struts (17), whereby the transverse struts (17) exhibit wedge-shaped upper edges.

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