EP1414711B1

EP1414711B1 - Bottle carrier

Info

Publication number: EP1414711B1
Application number: EP02714668A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Baki Ercan Özcan; Bülent Baylav
Original assignee: Baylav Buelent; Ozcan Baki Ercan
Current assignee: BAYLAV, BUELENT; OEZCAN, BAKI ERCAN
Priority date: 2001-02-15
Filing date: 2002-02-15
Publication date: 2006-10-11
Anticipated expiration: 2022-02-15
Also published as: ATE342205T1; WO2002064433A2; US20040112767A1; DE60215354D1; EP1414711A2; JP2004538217A; WO2002064433A3; AU2002246485A1

Abstract

The bottle carrier (1) according to the present invention comprises two longitudinal central sections (2) which may be used as interlocked or separately. In this manner, less bottles may be carried when required, and also their storange in the refrigerators and similar places is facilitated. These two pieces can be placed in the bottle storage compartments vertically, either as separated or as joined from their short edges, whereby the same number of bottles can be stored by occupying less space as compared to other bottle carries may also be used to open the metallic caps of the bottles.

Description

The present invention relates to a bottle carrier for carrying and storing bottles or similar containers.
Various bottle carrying devices have been developed for carrying more than one bottle together. Said devices retain the bottles together by using different implementations according to the volumes of the bottles. In general, carrying devices consisting of two interconnected plastic plates, one gripping the bottles at their neck portions and the other at their bottom portions, by means of bodies in the shape of a half or whole rim formed along their longitudinal edges, are used for large bottles. In such embodiments, as two plates are used, the material cost increases and it is not advantageous from an economical point of view.
The plastic plate, gripping the bottom portions of the bottles such as mineral water bottles, etc. is not anymore required when the volume of the bottles gets smaller. In the embodiment where a single plastic plate is utilized the diameter of the bottle gripping sockets in a half or whole rim shape, provided on both sides of the plastic plate, and the distance between two sockets vary according to the bottle to be carried. Usually six or eight bottles, three or four of each on two sides, can be carried by these devices.
In the state of Art, the US Patent No. 5191975, a plastic bottle packaging device which has a utility for retaining a plurality of containers, being a clip type of device comprising a longitudinal control section with a plurality of means for gripping the containers Integral therewith, is disclosed.
The dimensions of the longitudinal central section and the gripping means are dependent upon the dimensions of the containers to be retained by the device.
Furthermore, in the embodiment where the width of the plastic plate Is increased, at least one hole is provided at the center of the said plate to facilitate it being carried by using the fingers. This is also disclosed within the scope of said invention.
The US Patent No. 5882057 shows, a bottle carrier comprising notches to accommodate the neck portion of the bottles, formed at the edges of a circular structure. By this embodiment, a plurality of bottles can be carried in a relationship spaced apart to avoid their crashing but it can accommodate a smaller number of bottles.
The diameter of the circular structure is required to be increased in order to increase the number of the bottles that can be carried, however this leads to an increase in the cost, as well as in the total volume of the bottle carrier.
In the German Utility Model Certificate, no. DE 7226648, a device consisting of three metal-capped bottle carriers and a bottle cap opener is disclosed.
The most important disadvantage of the above disclosed bottle carriers lies in the fact that the bottle carriers with bottles on them are not in conformity with the area where they are stored. As there are no appropriate compartments in the refrigerators or the like, for the bottle carriers with bottles on them, they occupy a lot of space therein; therefore the bottles are taken out of the bottle carrier to be placed in the refrigerator.
The object of the present invention is to realize a bottle carrier used for carrying and particularly for storing a plurality of bottles together, which can also be split into two pieces.
The bottle carrier realized to attain the object of the present invention has been illustrated in the attached drawings, wherein;

Figure 1, is the plan view of the bottle carrier according to the prior art,
Figure 2a, is the plan view of the bottle carries before locking,
Figure 2b, is the plan view of the bottle carries in a locked position,
Figure 3a, is the plan view of another embodiment of the invention before locking,
Figure 3b, is the plan view of another embodiment of the invention in a locked position,
Figure 4a, is the plan view of another embodiment of the invention before locking, for a carrying position,
Figure 4b, is the plan side view of the locking detail of another embodiment of the invention,
Figure 5, is the plan view of one embodiment the invention, in a one row locked position.

The components shown in the drawings are separately given reference numerals as shown below:

1. Bottle carrier
2. Longitudinal central section
3. Longitudinal central section body
4. Gripping nest
5. Gripping members
6. Cased catch
7. Lock handle
8. Lateral support part
9. Aperture
10. Hole
11. Locking ring
12. Male locking member
13. Female locking member
14. Male fastening element
15. Female fastening element

The bottle container (1) according to the invention consists of two longitudinal central sections (2) that may be used Independently of each other or together by being assembled.
Said longitudinal central section (2) comprises a body (3), one or more gripping nests (4) formed along one longitudinal side of said body (3), and one or more locking means formed on the other longitudinal side of said body (3), at regular intervals, resilient gripping (claws) members (5) are provided. By virtue of the resilient structure of the gripping members (5) the bottle (s) can easily be put Into or taken out of the gripping nests (4). Each longitudinal central section (2) is provided with a number of gripping nests (4) depending on the number and volume of the bottles to be carried. Usually each longitudinal central section (2) is used to carry three or four bottles each, namely a total of six or eight bottles can be thus carried. By means of the lateral support part (8), the gripping members (5) located at the ends of the gripping nests (4) and the body (3) are joined. In this manner the resilience of the gripping nests (4) are kept within acceptable limits.
The holes (10) forming the apertures (9) to facilitate the handling of the bottle carrier (1) by the user, when the two longitudinal central sections (2) are brought together, are provided on the side opposing the one with the gripping nests (4), of both longitudinal central sections (2).
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, cased catches (6) are formed along the side of the body (3) where the holes (10) are located. Said cased catch (6) has a hollow and preferably a quadrilateral structure.
All of the cased catches (6) having the same geometry may be located on the same surface of the body (3) or some of them may be arranged on the upper and some, on the lower surface of said body (3).
The lock handles (7) are located near the cased catches (6) but on the reverse surface. A certain portion of the lock handle (7) is provided on the body (3) and the remaining portion extends beyond the side of the body (3). There are at least one lock handle (7) and one cased catch (6) (Fig. 2a and 2b).
In the preferred embodiment of the bottle carrier (1), the gripping nests (4), which are spaced apart at certain distances are formed on the longitudinal side of the body (3); on the other longitudinal side, however, the cased catch (6) and lock handle (7) take place behind each gripping nest (4). Said case catches (6) and the lock handles (7) are respectively located on the upper on the lower surface of the body (3). The bottle carrier (1) may be used as a single piece, by interlocking the two longitudinal central sections (2). Said interlocking is provided by arranging said cased catches (6) and said lock handles (7) appropriately. Two longitudinal central sections (2) are juxtaposed such that the surface of the section (2) provided with the cased catches (6) faces upwards and the surface of the other section provided with the cased catches (6) faces downwards.
Thus, on the upper surface of one piece, the cased catches (6) are present, and on the upper surface of the other piece, the respective lock handles (7) are present. In this position, the gripping nests (4) on the longitudinal central sections (2) face to opposite directions. The lock handles (7) on both bodies (3) are inserted between the lateral sides of the cased catches (6) on the other central section (2) and thus, the two sections (2) are interlocked.
The end portion of the lock handle (7) is slightly larger than the width of the cased catch (6) and by virtue of this structure, the lock handle (7) can easily enter the cased catch (6) but once it is In the cased catch (6), it cannot easily leave the cased catch (6) without applying a certain force. In this case, where both sections (2) are locked, the holes (10) provided in the form of opposing each other on the longitudinal side of the body (3), are brought together to form one or more apertures (9). Said apertures (9), preferably two in number, facilitate the transportation of the bottle since they are wide enough for the passage of fingers.
In another embodiment of the invention, three gripping nests (4) that are spaced apart at certain distances are formed on the longitudinal side of the body (3); whereas on its other longitudinal side, locking rings (11) are provided at the same level as each gripping nest (4). Two of said locking rings (11) are provided on the upper surface of the body (3) and one is on its lower surface. The two locking rings (11) on the upper surface of the body (3) are so arranged that a distance of the diameter of one locking ring (11) is left between them. Two locking rings (11) are located at the level of the gripping nest (4) at the middle section of the body (3); one of which is arranged on the upper and the other on the lower surface of the said body (3). A certain portion of all locking rings (11) is located on the body

(3) and the remaining portions extend beyond the edges of the said body (3) (Figures 3a and 3b).

In another embodiment of the invention, male and female locking members (12 and 13) are provided at the rear portion of the body and the male locking member (12) is fitted into the female member (13) due to their resilient structures and thus interlocking is realized.
There is a stepped roll that widens as a mushroom on one surface of the male member (12), and the female member (13) is provided with a through hole that allows the passage of the male member (12) but prevents it to exit once it passes through. The only difference between the two longitudinal central sections (2) is that, one of them is provided with male (12) and the other, with female (13) locking members (Fig. 4a and 4b).
In one embodiment of the invention, fastening elements (14 and 15) that provide the locking of the longitudinal central sections (2), on the short sides of both sections (3). By means of said fastening elements one of which is male (14) and the other is female (15), the sections (2) are fastened to each other from their short sides, thus enabling the storing of a plurality of bottles in one row (Fig. 5).
By using the bottle carrier (1) assembled as one piece, a plurality of bottles may be easily carried together. Furthermore, the bottles may be stored in refrigerators and the like that have storage compartments of appropriate width, without being taken out of the bottle carrier (1).
The bottle carrier may be used for a single bottle, or may be joined, arranged as one or double row, for more than one bottle, or a joined bottle carrier for more than one bottle. It may also be split and be used for carrying and storing various numbers of bottles. The number of said members (5) may be more than one on two sides of the handle band. The bottle carrier is shown with the arrows as triangular corners in the attached drawings. Said invention may be expressed by using geometrical figures such as circular, elliptical, quadrilateral, or mixed geometries. These will be assessed within the scope of the present invention.
Said two longitudinal central sections (2) constituting the bottle carrier (1), may be used as interlocked or separately or as assembled from their short edges.
In this manner, less bottles may be carried when required, and also their storage in the refrigerators and similar places is facilitated. The bodies can be placed in the bottle storage compartments vertically, either as separated or as joined from their short edges. In this manner the same number of bottles can be stored by occupying less space as compared to other bottle carriers.

Claims

A bottle carrier suitable for carrying and storing a plurality of bottles in a unitary manner comprising gripping nests (4) for gripping necks of bottles, the carrier characterized in that it further comprises;
a first and a second single piece longitudinal central section body (3), which form a substantially planar body with negligible thickness when adjoined to each other, the nests being located along one longitudinal side of each body, and
at least one locking means (6, 7) located along the other longitudinal side of each body with regular intervals, whereby said first and second bodies can be interlocked releasably to each other along said other longitudinal sides.
A bottle carrier as set forth in Claim 1, characterized by locking means comprising at least one cased catch (6) having a hollow, preferably a quadrilateral structure, and lock handle(s) (7) that are located near said cased caches (6) on the reverse surface, a certain portion of which is provided on the body (3) and the remaining portion extending beyond the side of said body in such a manner that the lock handle (7) can easily enter the cased catch (6) whereas the contrary can not be realized without intentionally applying substantial force, whereby the first and second longitudinal central section bodies can be attached to each other to carry a plurality of bottles and separated from each other to be place a plurality of bottles on a shallow depth rack exemplified by a fridge door rack.
A bottle carrier as set forth in Claim 2, characterised by having two longitudinal central sections (2) wherein on the upper surface of one piece, the cased catches (6), and on the upper surface of the other piece, the respective lock handles (7) are present whereby both pieces can be joined by inserting said lock handles (7) on the bodies (3) between the lateral sides of the cased catches (6) on the other central section (2).
A bottle carrier as set forth in Claim 1, characterized by locking means comprising locking rings (11), which are provided respectively on said first and second bodies (3) on the sides opposite to the gripping nests (4), and which are located half on the bodies and half outside the edges of said bodies, whereby the first and second longitudinal central section bodies can be attached to each other to carry a plurality of bottles and separated from each other to be place a plurality of bottles on a shallow depth rack exemplified by a fridge door rack.
A bottle carrier as set forth in Claim 4, characterized by the distance between two neighboring locking rings on the longitudinal central sections, is wide enough for the resilient placement of the corresponding locking rings on the other longitudinal central sections.
A bottle carrier as set forth in any of the preceding claims, characterized by apertures (9) which are formed, when both sections (2) are locked to each other, by the holes provided on opposing longitudinal sides of the bodies (3), whereby carrying the bottle carrier in the loaded condition is facilitated.
A bottle carrier as set forth in Claim I, characterized in that the locking means has a male part located on one of the bodies (3) and a female part located on the other body.
A bottle carrier as set forth in Claim 7, characterized by a male locking member provided with stepped roll that widens as a mushroom on one of its surfaces.
A bottle carrier as defined in Claim 7 or 8, characterized by a female member provided with a through hole that allows the passage of the male member (12) while preventing its exit once it passes through.
A bottle carrier as defined in Claim 1, characterized by an additional fastening means, generally in the form of a male fastening element (14) and a female fastening element (15), where the male is located on one of the short sides of the first longitudinal central section and the female is located on the neighboring short side of the second longitudinal central section (2), whereby the single piece sections can be attached to each other to form a row of bottles to facilitate storage in a shallow depth rack.