GB2083446A

GB2083446A - Protective coverings for bottles

Info

Publication number: GB2083446A
Application number: GB8126663A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: SOCAR
Current assignee: SOCAR
Priority date: 1980-09-10
Filing date: 1981-09-03
Publication date: 1982-03-24
Also published as: IE812049L; IT8105202A0; FR2489782A1; NL8103978A; ES269070U; BE890263A; ES269070Y; PT73625B; PT73625A; GB2083446B; FR2489782B1; IE52073B1; DE3133152A1; IT1194987B; CH648523A5; DE3133152C2

Abstract

A bottle covering has the general shape of a right prism (1), preferably regular, of which the cross section is such that its surfaces are tangent to the body of the bottle (4) to be protected, the said prism being sealed off at least partially at its base by a part which can be applied against the bottom of the bottle, while at the top there is at least one element capable of gripping the shoulder which forms the connection between the body and the neck of the bottle. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Protective coverings for bottles The invention relates to a protective covering for the body of a bottle and is particularly designed for the conditioning of sets of bottles having an axis of symmetry and comprising a body and a neck connected by a shoulder.

It is known that full bottles, whether of glass or plastics, are generally supplied to consumers in cardboard boxes, in which the different bottles are separated by partitions or intercalated elements in order to protect them from impacts.

A particular problem arises when the bottles are delivered lying down "head to tail" in their various packings, because the bottles of two layers one above the other are usually "staggered", which complicates the separation between layers and makes it difficult to stack the bottles in a stable manner.

The purpose of the invention is to remedy this drawback by enclosing the body of each bottle in a sheath which efficiently protects them from impact and which thus replaces the usual intercalary elements of packings, enabling the bottles of the different layers to be placed one upon the other without any "offset", thus enabling them to be stacked in a more stable manner. The bottle coverings preferably can be placed in position on the bottles without difficulty, even on bottling chains, without any major modifications to these latter.

Accordingly, the invention provides a casing, for example, of corrugated cardboard or a similar material, for protecting the body of a bottle, having the general shape of a right prism, preferably regular, its cross section being such that its surfaces are tangent to at least the surface of the body of the bottle to be protected, the said right prism being sealed off at least partially at its base by a base part which can be applied against the base of the bottle, while at the top there is at least one shoulder element capable of enclosing the shoulder which forms the connection between the body and the neck of the bottle, or an element comprising an aperture into which it is possible to insert the neck of the bottle, which is thus secured by the said casing.

The parts enclosing the said shoulder may consist of flaps adjacent the upper part of the surfaces of the right prism and inclined in relation to these latter, which said flaps can be separated from one another or connected by parts forming "bellows" after the casing has been mounted on the body of the bottle.

The cross section of the said prism may, for example, form a square, a hexagon or a regular octagon.

As will be seen in greater detail, by reference to the following description of numerous forms in which the invention can be constructed the element or elements sealing off the base of the prism and the element or elements provided at the top of the prism are secured in a fixed position by being placed against the flaps and/or the adjacent surfaces of the prism with the use of an adhesive, the final assembly of the casing being effected on the actual bottling chain, whether or not the body of the prism has been assembled in advance.

The invention likewise relates to a bottle of which the body is accommodated in and secured by the said casing.

The base of each bottle being equipped with a prismatic casing, it is obviously easy to place such bottles in a packing, "head to tail", in a number of layers of bottles of which the casings rest on one another by their flat surfaces and rest laterally against the walls of the packing case, so that they are firmly wedged. The superimposed bottles of the different layers also rest on one another by one generatrix of their bodies, so that they can be stacked with additional stability and therefore to an ample height.

The invention likewise relates to a conditioning system in which bottles are placed "head to tail" and in a number of superimposed layers and in which the bodies of the bottles are equipped with casings in accordance with the invention and the bottles of the different layers rest on one another, without any "lateral offset", by means of the flat surfaces of the casings.

Embodiments of casing, in accordance with the invention, will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figs. 1 and 2 are plan views of two blanks of cardboard for the production of a casing; Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of a bottle fitted with a casing produced from a blank such as shown in Fig. 1 or Fig. 2; Figs. 4 to 7 are plan views of other embodiments of one-piece cardboard blanks enabling casings to be constructed; Fig. 8 is an exploded view showing how an alternative casing is produced from two separate elements; Fig. 9 illustrates how a conditioning system is filled with a number of superimposed layers of bottles, each equipped with a casing in accordance with Fig. 1, and the bottles positioned "head to tail".

Reference will first of all be made to Fig. 1.

The body 1 of the casing comprises four identical rectangular panels 1 a, 1 b, 1 C and 1 d, of corrugated cardboard, articulated to one another by folding lines 2. A flap 3, adjacent the panel 1 a, is stuck, at the assembly stage, to the inner surface of the panel 1 d, so that the four panels will thus define a right prism of square cross section, forming a sheath for the body of a bottle (Fig. 3).

At the top of the panels 1 b and id is provided a trapezoidal flap, Sb and Sd respectively, while the top of each of the panels 1 a and 1 c is provided with an identical flap, 5a and 5c respectively, to which flap, however, a triangular connecting flap, 6a and 6c respectively, is laterally articulated by a folding line, the latter flap coming to rest on and adhering to the internal surface of the adjacent flap Sb and 5d respectively at the assembly stage.

The flaps 5a, Sb, 5c, and 5d then occupy the inclined position to be seen in Fig. 3, in relation to the adjacent panels 1 a and 1 d, and grip the shoulder which interconnects the body and the neck of the bottle 4.

At the bases of the panels 1 a-1 d, in the case of Fig. 1 , flaps 7a-7d respectively are provided, these being folded at an angle of 900 at the assembly stage, to some extent overlapping, against the base of the bottle, and are then stuck to one another. The bottle 4 is thus secured by the casing with which it is equipped, and the flaps 5a to Sdon the one hand and 7a-7don the other prevent it from becoming displaced in one direction or the other in relation to the casing.

It will be noted that the casing mounted on the bottle offers the advantage, in bottling assembly lines, of damping the considerable and unpleasant noise usually produced when the bottles knock against one another.

In the version shown in Fig. 2 the body of a casing comprises four rectilinear panels 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d, to one end of each of which is articulated, by a folding line, a flap 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d respectively. These four flaps are designed to overlap to some extent at the assembly stage in order to form the base of the casing.

To the other ends of the panels 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d are articulated, by folding lines, flaps 1 Oa, 1 0b, 1 Oc and 1 Od respectively, designed to come to rest against the shoulder connecting the body and the neck of a bottle. Each flap is laterally articulated by a folding line to a triangular part 11 a, 11 b, 1 C and 1 d respectively, the adjacent triangular parts, such as 1 a and 1 b, being themselves articulated together by a folding line continuing in the form of a slit. When the casing is placed in position on the bottles the parts 11 a, 1 1 b and 1 1 c and 1 1 d may thus undergo deformation.

An edge 12 adjacent to the panel 8a can be attached by an adhesive to the panel 8dwhen the casing is being placed in position.

Fig. 4 shows a constructional variant of the casing shown in Fig. 1, the same reference numbers being retained for any components already described in the latter. The flaps 7a, 7b, 7c and 7d are replaced by a square part 8 adjacent to one of the panels, such as the panel 1 b, of a cross section equal to that of the prism 1, in which it thus seals off at the bottom, forming a base. At the base of the panels 1 a, 1 c and 1 dflaps 39a, 39c and 39d respectively are provided, coming to rest against the base part 8.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are part views of other variants of Fig. 1 , the same reference numbers again being retained for components which have already occurred.

In Fig. 5 a square base part 40 is articulated by one of its sides to the panel la, while on the opposite side it is provided with a flap 41 designed to come to rest against the internal surface of the panel 1 c. Flaps 42 and 43, articulated to the base of panels 1 b and 1 d respectively, are applied against the internal surface of the base 40, in order to form with the latter a closure of a conventional type.

Fig. 6 shows another variant in which parts 45a,45b,45c and 45d, adjacent to the base of the panels 1 a-1 d respectively, are of a shape known in itself, constituting the bottom of a box with a semi-automatic closure.

Similarly, in the variant shown in Fig. 7 the flaps 46a, 46b, 46c and 46d, adjacent to the panels 1 a, 1 b,1 Ic and 1 d respectively, overlap one another, the flaps 46a and 46c being provided with tongues 47a and 47c respectively, folded back and stuck to the adjacent flaps 46d and 46b respectively.

All the casings in accordance with the invention which have been described up to the present are made from one single blank of cardboard or corrugated cardboard suitable cut-out and grooved. These casings, however, may be produced by assembling several separate parts, as in the case of the constructional version shown in Fig. 8.

This consists of two parts, one marked 86, in the form of a right prism with a square cross section, comprising a base (not shown), the other marked 87 and comprising a flat portion 88 parallel to the base of the part 86 and having an aperture 89 to give passage to the neck of the bottle, two inclined lateral parts 90 fitting the shape of the shoulder of the bottle, and two end flaps 91 which come to rest against and are stuck to the internal surface of two opposite panels of the part 86.

As indicated in the foregoing, the protective casings in accordance with the invention are particularly advantageous when used for preparing a number of superimposed layers of bottles laid "head to tail", inside a packing.

The fact is that, as may be seen from Fig. 9, illustrating a packing 110 of this kind, e.g. an American packing case opened at the side, some of the casings 111, securing the bottles 112, can be laid on some of the others, by some of their flat surfaces. It follows that the lateral casings are thus wedged against the lateral walls of the case 110 and that, if that part of the casings which takes the form of a right prism is of sufficient length, i.e.

longer than half the height of the casing, the casings of the bottles laid "head to tail" will have a certain portion in contact and will thus wedge one another, preventing any lateral displacement from occurring while the case is being handled. In this connection it will be noted that if the bottles are secured by their casings there is no risk that the casings will be displaced by sliding along the bottles during the handling operations.

Furthermore, as may be clearly seen from Fig. 9 the bottles of the different layers are on a level with one another, the layers not being laterally "off-set" in relation to one another as is usually the case. It follows that the bottles are supported on one another at the level of their upper generatrix and their lower generatrix, so that they render the full case more resistant to crushing, the case thus being self-supporting. When the cases are being stacked it is thus possible to place them in far higher piles than with the usuai type of packing.

As the operations of building up the protective casings and assembling them around the bottles can easily be integrated into the existing bottling chains, the invention provides a simple and economic means of improving the system for conditioning sets of bottles in a packing.

Furthermore, as has been indicated further back, the casings in accordance with the invention considerably reduce the noise caused by the mutual impacts between bottles on bottling assembly lines.

Needless to say, the casings in accordance with the invention can also be employed for the conditioning of bottles in an upright position in conventional packings, the casings then being substituted for the usual cross-shaped supports or other separating devices known in this technical sphere. When the invention is used for this purpose all the bottles can be provided with a casing in accordance with the invention or else, as an alternative, one out of every two bottles can be provided with such a casing.

Claims

1. A casing, for example, of corrugated cardboard or a similar material, for protecting the body of a bottle, having the general shape of a right prism, preferably regular, its cross section being such that its surfaces are tangent to at least the surface of the body of the bottle to be protected, the said right prism being sealed off at least partially at its base by a base part which can be applied against the base of the bottle, while at the top there is at least one shoulder element capable of enclosing the shoulder which forms the connection between the body and the neck of the bottle, or an element comprising an aperture into which it is possible to insert the neck of the bottle, which is thus secured by the said casing.

2. A casing in accordance with Claim 1, in which the cross section of the said prism forms a square, a hexagon or a regular octagon.

3. A casing in accordance with Claim 1 or Claim 2, which is produced from one single cardboard blank, suitably cut-out and grooved or creased.

4. A casing in accordance with Claim 1 or Claim 2, which is formed from two separate blanks interconnected, for example. by the use of an adhesive.

5. A casing substantially as described herein with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

6. An assembly consisting of a bottle and a protective casing in accordance with any of Claims 1 to 5, in which the body of the bottle is accommodated in the said casing and secured thereby.

7. A conditioning containing bottles placed substantially horizontal and "head to tail" and in a number of superimposed layers, in which the bodies of the said bottles are equipped with a casing in accordance with any of Claims 1 to 5 and in which the bottles of the different layers rest on one another, without any lateral "off-set" of the flat surfaces of the said casings.

8. A conditioning in accordance with Claim 7 in which those parts of the casings of the said bottles which take the form of a right prism have lengths which are greater than half the height of the bottles, so that the casings of two adjacent bottles placed "head to tail" will be in contact with each other and exert a wedging effect on each other in the lateral direction.

9. A conditioning containing bottles in the upright position, in which ali the bottles or one out of every two bottles are equipped with a casing in accordance with one of Claims 1 to 5 in place of the systems by which the said bottles are usually separated.

10. A conditioning substantially as described herein with reference to or as illustrated in Figure 9 of the accompanying drawings.

11. Blanks for making casings substantially as described herein with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.