NL1010724C2 - Double walled crate for bottles is made from injection molded plastic and has softened handgrips to minimize discomfort for user - Google Patents

Abstract

The injection molded crate (1) has a base (2), side walls (3, 4) and strengthening columns (5). Handgrip openings (6) in the side walls have lower linings (8) made of softer material than the rest of the crate. The softer material can be thermoplastic rubber. The linings minimize the discomfort to the user's hands when carrying a crate loaded with more than 15 Kg of bottles.

Description

Short indication: Injection molded plastic crate.

The present invention relates to an injection molded plastic crate, in particular a bottle crate, according to the preamble of claim 1.

A bottle crate according to the preamble of claim 1 is generally known. As is known, the weight of such a bottle crate, when filled with full bottles, can be very considerable; in practice, the weight can exceed 15 kilos. This requires special attention to the handle or handles of the crate. Each handle actually has two functions, namely to form a suitable hand contact surface in those places where the crate is grabbed by hand and leans on the hand and also to transfer the weight of the (full) crate to the hand or hands. of the person carrying the crate.

A large number of publications are known from the prior art, in which attention is paid to the design of the handle or handles of a crate 20 according to the preamble of claim 1. Examples of these publications are EP 0 374 774, EP 0 376 043 , DE-GM 76 34 858, NL 7906528, EP 0 260 698 and DE 2 312 871.

In practice, despite the fact that for many years attention has been paid to the handles of 25 bottle crates, carrying a bottle crate with full bottles by hand has been experienced as an unpleasant activity. In particular, it is experienced that the known handles "cut by hand", especially if one has to walk with the crate for a longer period of time. This effect is partly due to the desire of bottle distributors to keep the outer dimensions of the crate as small as possible, which is advantageous for transport and storage. As a result of this wish, only a small thickness remains for the side walls of the crate, and for the handles therein, 1 0 1 07 2 4 - 2 - so that the available surface area of the hand contact surface of the handles is small and thus a great local pressure is exerted on the hand (s) of the person carrying the crate.

The present invention aims to provide a solution to the above problem.

To this end, the invention provides a crate according to the preamble of claim 1, characterized in that the hand-contact-forming handle part is manufactured from a material having a lower hardness than the material of the force-transmitting handle part.

Preferably, the hand contact face forming handle portion has a hardness comprised between 50 and 90 Shore A.

In an advantageous embodiment, the hand contact surface-forming handle part is made of a rubber, it being preferred to use a thermoplastic rubber.

In an advantageous embodiment, the hand contact surface forming handle part forms an elongated hand contact surface with a length corresponding to or greater than the width of the human hand and a width which is at least 8 millimeters. In a variant, the hand-contact-plane-forming handle part forms a plurality of hand-contact fields located at a distance from one another, for instance a hand-contact field for each finger of the hand. Preferably, the hand-part-forming handle part is strongly rounded on the longitudinal edges thereof.

It is preferred that the hand-contact surface-forming handle part is tightly connected to the force-transmitting handle part so as to avoid giving the person carrying the crate the impression that the crate is movable relative to the hand-contact surface-forming handle part.

In a practically advantageous embodiment, the hand contact surface-forming handle part is prefabricated and that handle part is attached to the force-transmitting handle part during or after injection molding of the crate.

1 Π 1 Π7 o .i ^ I o l u / c.

- 3 -

Preferably the hand contact surface forming handle part is made of a thermoplastic rubber. If this handle part is placed as a prefabricated part in the injection mold for the injection molding of the crate and then adheres to the injected plastic material of the crate, it is preferable that the rubber is chemically related to the plastic material of the crate, so that a excellent adhesion is obtained. As is generally known, bottle crates are often made of polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP).

Another method of attaching the hand-contact-forming handle part to the force-transmitting handle part is the use of the "co-injection injection molding technique", in which a thermoplastic plastic material suitable for that part is injected into a suitable injection mold at the location of the hand-contact surface forming part. and wherein another thermoplastic plastic material is injected at one or more other locations for the manufacture of the remaining part of the crate.

Naturally, the hand-contact-surface-forming handle part can also be applied after injection molding of the crate, for example by gluing, welding or with a click or clamp connection.

In a special variant, the hand-contact surface-forming handle part comprises a deformable casing, which defines one or more cavities, in which a viscous filling, such as a gel, is enclosed.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. In the drawing: Fig. 1 shows a side view, partly in section, of a first exemplary embodiment of a bottle crate according to the invention, Fig. 2 on a larger scale and in section, a part of the bottle crate of Fig. 1 in the area of a handle, Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a part of a second embodiment of a bottle crate according to the invention, FIG. 4 is a top plan view, partly in section, a third embodiment of a bottle crate according to the invention, and FIG. side view, partly in section, of the bottle crate of figure 4.

Figures 1 and 2 show a double-walled plastic bottle crate 1, with a rectangular bottom 2 and with four side walls 3, 4 arranged along the edges of the bottom 2 and projecting from the bottom 2, which are substantially double-walled.

Reinforcement columns 5 extending upward from the bottom 2 are present on the inner wall part of the side walls 3, 4. In the crate 1 there is a compartment division, which forms open compartments from above, each for accommodating one or more bottles.

A handle opening 6 is present in the side wall 3 and the opposite side wall (not shown). This handle opening 6 is bounded at its top by a handle part 8 forming a hand contact surface 7, the hand contact surface 7 coming into contact with the hand of a person who lifts the crate 1. A force-transmitting handle part 9 extends above the handle part 8: 25, which handle part 9 here is in one piece with the side wall 3 of the crate 1 and is molded during the injection molding of the crate 1 into a suitable mold. In this example, the handle portion 9 is substantially L-shaped in cross-section with a standing single-walled leg extending from the handle part 8 to the top edge of the crate 1 and with a lying single-walled leg extending inward. The handle part 8 rests with its entire top surface against the lying leg of the handle part 9.

The handle part 8 forming hand contact surface 7 is made of a material having a lower hardness than the material of the force-transmitting handle part 1010724-5-9. Preferably, the hardness of the handle part 8 is between 50 and 90 Shore A.

In this example, the hand part 8 forming handle part 8 is made of a thermoplastic rubber, while the handle part 9 and therefore the rest of the crate 1 is made of PE or PP.

The handle part 8 forming the hand contact surface 7 here forms an elongated flat hand contact surface 7 with a length corresponding to or greater than the width of the human hand and a width "b" which is at least 8 millimeters,

The handle part 8 forming hand contact surface 7 can be prefabricated as a separate part and then attached to the force-transmitting handle part 9 during or after injection molding of the crate 1.

It is thus possible to attach the handle part 8 to the handle part 9 by gluing or welding. If the handle part 9 were provided with one or more cavities at the bottom, corresponding protrusions of the handle part 8 would be inserted therein so as to form a snap or clamp connection. The handle part 8 could also engage positively on the handle part 9.

In another manufacturing method it is conceivable to use the co-injection injection molding technique, in which the thermoplastic rubber is injected in a suitable mold at the location of the handle part 8 and in one or more other places the thermoplastic plastic for the crate 1. It is conceivable that the handle part 8 is injected via a film hinge and then, after taking out the crate from the mold, is brought into the intended position and fixed.

Figure 3 shows a bottle crate 10 with a side wall 11 and a side wall 12. In the side wall 11 there is a handle opening 13, which is bounded at the top by a handle part 15 forming a hand contact surface 14. A power-transmitting handle part 16 extends above the handle part 15. which is in one piece with the side wall 11 of 1 0 1/2 4 - 6 - the crate 10. The handle part 15 is of thermoplastic rubber and the handle part 16 of a harder thermoplastic plastic, for example PE or PP.

In the side wall 12 there is an otherwise shaped handle opening 17, which is bounded at its top by the ends of a large number of spaced apart vertically oriented slat-like elements 18, which on the one hand consist of an upper part 19, which is one-piece and is sprayed from the same material with the side wall 12 of the crate 10, and a lower part 20, which is made of a less hard material than the upper part 19, for instance of thermoplastic rubber.

In figure 3, the lower ends of the slat-shaped elements 18 form a curved surface with a lowest point in the middle of the handle, but of course other shapes are also possible.

Figures 4 and 5 show a top view and a side view / section, respectively, of a bottle crate 30, which has two spaced apart and protruding columns 32 in the central region of the bottom 31, which are connected at their upper ends by a cross beam 33, which forms a handle for carrying the crate 30. It can be seen in the cross-section of figure 5 that the cross beam 33, which has been injected in one piece with the crate 30, is lined at the bottom by a handle part 36, which hand contact surface 37. The handle part 36 is less hard than the plastic material of the cross beam 33 and preferably has a hardness between 50 and 90 Shore A.

It will be clear that the figures show only a few possible embodiments of bottle crates provided with a handle according to the invention. In a variant (not shown) which appears to be particularly suitable for bottle crates which, when filled with full bottles, may have a high weight, provision could be made for the hand-contact-forming handle part to comprise a deformable casing defining one or more cavities, in which 1 0 1 0724 - 7 - a thick liquid filling, for example a gel, is enclosed.

Another common embodiment of a crate to which the invention applies relates to a bottle crate with upwardly protruding columns arranged along the edges of the bottom, for instance only in the corners or with a middle column in between, which columns at their upper ends are arranged by a the circumferential beam extending along the top peripheral edge of the bottle crate are connected, the circumferential beam forming the force-transmitting handle part and on the underside thereof provided with the hand-contact-forming part of a less hard material.

1 0 1 07 24

Claims (11)

1. Injection molded plastic crate, in particular a bottle crate, comprising a bottom and side wall elements upright along the peripheral edge of the bottom, which delimit a space for receiving goods, in particular bottles, the crate being provided with at least one handle with a handle part forming a hand contact surface and with a force-transmitting handle part extending above it for carrying the crate in the hand, characterized in that the hand part forming a hand contact surface 10 is made of a material having a lower hardness than the material of the power transmitting handle part. 2. Crate according to claim 1, wherein the hand contact surface forming handle part has a hardness between 50 and 90 Shore A. 3. Crate according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hand contact surface-forming handle part is made of a rubber, preferably a thermoplastic rubber. Crate according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the hand-contact surface-forming handle part forms an elongated hand-contact surface with a length corresponding to or greater than the width of the human hand and a width which is at least 8 millimeters. Crate according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the hand contact surface forming handle part is prefabricated and is attached to the force transmitting handle part during or after injection molding. Crate according to one or more of the preceding 1010724-9 claims, wherein the hand-contact-forming handle part comprises a deformable casing defining one or more cavities in which a viscous filling is enclosed. 5 Crate according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the crate has a rectangular bottom. 8. Crate as claimed in claim 7, wherein the crate has four upright side walls which connect to each other in the corners of the crate, and wherein in at least two opposite side walls there is a handle opening, the top of which is at least partly bounded body forming by the hand contact surface. 15 9. Crate as claimed in one or more of the foregoing claims, wherein the crate in the central region of the bottom has one or more protruding columns, on which a single handle is formed, and wherein the handle has a hand-part-forming handle part and an extension extending above it. force transmitting handle portion, wherein the hand contact face forming handle portion is made of a material having a lower hardness than the metal of the force transmitting handle portion. 25 10. Crate as claimed in one or more of the foregoing claims, wherein the side wall elements are columns protruding from the bottom, which are connected at their upper ends by a peripheral beam extending along the top of the crate, which peripheral beam forms the force-transmitting handle part and on the underside thereof is provided with the part forming the hand-contact surface. Crate according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein a compartment divider for bottles is provided. 1010724