NL2020631B1 - Combination of a crate for beverage bottles and a lid fitting thereto and use of such a combination - Google Patents

Abstract

A combination (1) of a crate (2) for beverage bottles (4) or for suitable beverage cans or for a lid (3), in which beverage boxes and the lid (3) thereon are at least partially made of thermally insulating material and / or the lid (3) is provided with at least one reservoir (6) that is filled with coolant. Such a combination can be used for cooling or keeping cool drinks in a bottle (4) or other package, the bottle or other package (4) being in the crate (2).

Description

Patent center

Θ 2020631 (21) Application number: 2020631 © Application submitted: March 20, 2018 @ Int. CL:

B65D 21/02 (2018.01) B65D 1/24 (2018.01) B65D 81/38 (2018.01) F25D 3/08 (2018.01) F25D 31/00 (2018.01)

@ Priority: (73) Patent holder (s): March 31, 2017 BE BE2017 / 5225 BELLIVO, SOCIÉTÉ ANONYME at Luxembourg, Luxembourg, LU. row) Application registered: October 10, 2018 (72) Inventor (s): Jan Oeyen in Kasterlee (BE). (43) Application published: (74) Agent: (47) Patent granted: ir. W.J.J.M. Kempes in Hilversum. October 10, 2018 (45) Patent issued: January 4, 2019

54) Combination of a crate for beverage bottles and a lid fitting thereto and use of such a combination © A combination (1) of a crate (2) for beverage bottles (4) or for beverage cans or for beverage boxes and a lid fitting thereto (3) , wherein the lid (3) is at least partially made of thermally insulating material and / or the lid (3) is provided with at least one reservoir (6) that is filled with coolant. Such a combination can be used for cooling or keeping cool drinks in a bottle (4) or other package, the bottle or other package (4) being in the crate (2).

NL Bl 2020631

This patent has been granted regardless of the attached result of the research into the state of the art and written opinion. The patent corresponds to the documents originally submitted.

Combination of a crate for beverage bottles and a lid fitting thereto and use of such a combination.

The invention relates to a combination of a crate for beverage bottles and a lid fitting thereto and use of such a combination.

Beverage contained in plastic or glass bottles or other packages, such as liquid-tight multi-layer boxes, cans, etc., where those bottles or other packages are placed in crates, is not easy to cool or keep cool for a long time. Firstly, the crates take up a lot of space in a cooling room, and often there is no, or insufficient, cooling space available. Once the crates are out of the cooling space, the beverage in it also heats up quickly. This is reinforced by the fact that there is a development going on to make crates lighter, so that they have relatively many openings to the outside.

It is also usually not practical, if you want to take a bottle or can or box of liquor, to go and get it from a cooling room.

The present invention has for its object to provide solutions to the problem of cooling or keeping drinks cool in bottles or other packages in a crate, in that it provides a combination of a crate for beverage bottles or for beverage cans or for beverage boxes and a lid fitting thereto, the lid having at least one, but preferably both, of the following features: that the lid is at least partially made of thermally insulating material and that the lid is provided with at least one reservoir filled with coolant.

Such a reservoir is also referred to as a eutectic plate.

By means of such a lid, beverage in the bottles or other packages in the crate can be kept cool longer, because the open top of the crate is insulated, but can also be cooled if the coolant in the reservoir is previously cooled or frozen.

The crate is preferably provided with separate compartments, each of which is adapted to receive a separate beverage bottle or beverage box or beverage can.

The lid can be a lid with one or more fixedly fixed reservoirs with coolant, but in a preferred embodiment the lid is provided with at least one reservoir that is filled with coolant, the at least one reservoir and the rest of the lid being arranged to be able to repeatedly remove at least one reservoir from, and reapply to, the rest of the lid.

This makes it possible to loosen the at least one reservoir and to cool or freeze it separately and then attach it to the rest of the lid. This takes up less space in a refrigerator / freezer than a complete lid with one or more fixed containers of coolant.

In a preferred embodiment, the lid is provided on its underside with support points or a support surface with which it can rest on an upper edge of the crate, wherein the lid is provided with one or more parts protruding on the underside from the support surface or through the support points defined geometric plane to thereby prevent lateral movement of the lid when the lid is placed on the crate.

After all, the one or more parts that protrude at the bottom impact against the crate with a small lateral movement, as a result of which they prevent a further lateral movement.

The underside is here the underside when the lid is in an orientation in which it can cover a crate that is in a normal usage orientation.

The cover here preferably has a peripheral edge, the supporting points or the supporting surface being closer to the peripheral edge than the said one or more parts protruding from the bottom.

As a result, the one or more parts protruding at the bottom are on the inside and not on the outside of the crate and the lid does not have to protrude outside the circumference of the crate and therefore does not disturb the possibility of compactly crating against each other able to place, which is important, for example, when placing standardized crates measuring 30 by 40 cm on standardized pallets.

In a preferred embodiment, the combination is arranged to be stably stackable on an identical combination when the cover is arranged on the crate in both combinations.

This means that the lid must be strong enough to support the weight of at least one, and preferably at least three, filled combinations and that the top of the lid and the bottom of the crate are designed in such a way that a stable stacking is possible .

In a further preferred embodiment, the top of the lid and the bottom of the crate are provided with complementary guide members.

As a result, when two combinations are stacked, the combinations are guided towards a mutual preferred orientation and, in a stacked state, lateral movement of the combinations relative to each other is prevented.

In a preferred embodiment, the combination comprises at least one cover element to cover one or more sides, and preferably all sides, of the crate.

Such cover elements cover holes, for example holes which serve as a handle or which serve to reduce the weight, in the sides of the crate and thereby help keep drinks in the crate cool for longer.

Such a cover element can be made of any material, for example cardboard or plastic foil, but is preferably made at least partially from a thermally insulating material, so that such a cover element is better insulating.

Also preferably, the at least one cover element is provided with at least one internal cavity filled with coolant. This coolant can be cooled in advance, so that the cover element will actively contribute to cooling the contents of the crate.

In a preferred embodiment, the at least one cover element is designed as a sleeve to enclose the sides of the crate.

This is a practical embodiment, because a cover of all sides can then be obtained with one cover element, and sleeves can generally be manufactured relatively inexpensively.

By this a sleeve is meant an annular body with a geometric central axis. The sleeve is open at two ends, or two sides more or less perpendicular to the central axis, these open ends corresponding to the top and bottom of the crate when the sleeve is used.

The sleeve is preferably adapted to be folded flat without being damaged, for example because the sleeve is made of flexible material, or is made of rigid material, but is arranged to pivot at the places corresponding to the corners of the crate. for example by means of a film hinge.

The invention further relates to the use of a combination as described above for cooling or keeping a beverage contained in a bottle or can or box, wherein the bottle or the can or box is located in the crate, and preferably in one of the compartments of the crate.

In a preferred variant, the beverage is beer.

The invention also relates to a combination defined by the following clauses:

Clause 1. A combination of a crate for beverage bottles or for beverage cans or for beverage boxes and at least one cover element (10) to cover one or more sides, and preferably all sides, of the crate (2).

Clause 2. A combination according to clause 1, wherein the at least one cover element is at least partially made of a thermally insulating material and / or is provided with at least one internal cavity filled with coolant.

Clause 3. A combination according to clause 1 or 2, wherein the at least one cover element is designed as a sleeve to enclose the sides of the crate.

Clause 4. A combination according to any of the preceding clauses, wherein the sleeve is adapted to be folded flat without thereby being damaged.

Clause 5. A combination according to any of the preceding clauses, wherein the crate is provided with separate compartments, each of which is adapted to receive one beverage bottle or beverage can or beverage box.

Clause 6. A combination according to any of the preceding clauses, wherein the crate is provided with separate compartments, each of which is adapted to receive one beverage bottle or beverage can or beverage box.

Clause 7. Use of a combination according to one of the preceding clauses for cooling or keeping cool, preferably beer, in a bottle or can or box, the bottle or the can or box being in the crate is located.

Clause 8. Use according to clause 7, characterized in that the combination is a combination according to clause 5, wherein more than one of the compartments, and preferably all compartments, are provided with a said bottle or can or box.

In order to better explain the invention, a preferred embodiment is described, without the invention being limited to this embodiment, with reference to the following figures:

Figure 1 represents a combination according to the invention in perspective;

Figure 2 is a perspective and bottom view of a component of the combination of Figure 1;

Figures 3 and 4 show parts of the component of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a sectional view, as indicated by line V-V in Figure 1, of a combination of the combination according to the invention in the position of use;

Figure 6 shows an additional component of a preferred embodiment of a combination according to the invention;

Figure 7 shows the use of a combination with the additional component of Figure 6, in a section analogous to Figure 5;

Figure 8 shows a preferred embodiment of a combination according to the invention and the use thereof in a section as in Figure 7.

The combination 1 shown in figures 1 to 5 comprises as main components a crate 2 and a lid fitting thereto

3. The lid 3 is separate from the crate 2. Both main components are therefore not attached to each other.

The crate is a crate 2 with separate compartments for beer bottles 1 and is partially filled with beer bottles 1 filled with beer. The crate 2 has a length L of 40 cm in the horizontal plane and a width B of 30 cm.

The cover 3 has the same dimensions in the horizontal plane as the crate 2.

The lid 3 consists of two main parts, namely a lid body 5 made of polystyrene foam and a cooling element 6 clamping therein, which is formed by a closed plastic reservoir filled with a coolant. Alternatively, the lid body 5 can be made of a hard plastic shell that is filled with a thermally insulating substance.

The cooling element 6 can be taken out of the cover body 5 and be reinserted therein, whereby it remains in place by clamping.

As can be seen in particular in Figure 5, the lid has a support surface 7 with which it rests on the upper edge of the crate 2 during use. This supporting surface 7 is formed by a flat part which is located adjacent to the peripheral edge 8 of the cover 3.

The cooling element 6 and a collar 9 on the lid body 5 protrude downwards beyond the supporting surface 7.

The operation of the combination 1 is simple and as follows.

To prepare for use, the cooling element 6 is removed from the lid body 5 and placed in a freezer, for example a household freezer,

placed until it coolant sufficiently cooled i s. Depending on the temperature and nature from it coolant will it coolant here or not to freeze. The cooling element 6 is then replaced in it cover body 5, after which the lid thus formed 3 on it, from bottles 4 beer crate 2 placed

is going to be.

This results in a double effect. Firstly, the contents of the crate 2 are isolated from the outside environment, so that less heat exchange between the beer and the outside environment can take place so that cool beer in the bottles 4 warms up less quickly. Secondly, the cold cooling element 6 cools the beer in the bottles 4 or, if the beer is already cooled, keeps it cool for longer.

In a preferred embodiment, the combination 1 also comprises a sleeve 10 which can be fitted fittingly around the crate 2, so that the top and bottom of the crate 2 are not enclosed by the sleeve 10, but the sides of the crate 2 are. Such a sleeve 10 is shown in Figure 6.

This sleeve 10 is made of a multi-layer flexible and deformable foil, in which thermal insulation material 11, for example flexible polyurethane foam, is provided and in which cavities 12 are provided that are filled with coolant.

Such sleeves, in a much smaller size, are known for cooling individual wine bottles.

The operation of the preferred embodiment is illustrated in Figure 7 and differs from the operation of the first embodiment described above in that also the sleeve 10 is placed in a freezer for some time in preparation to cool the coolant therein and possibly to freeze it.

To take up less space, the sleeve is flattened for this purpose.

After the sleeve 10 has been sufficiently cooled, it is slid around the crate 2 and thereby covers the sides. This makes the contents of the crate even better thermal

isolated of the outside environment, and becomes one 5 additional cooling of the content of the crate 2 obtained.

It is noted that, in order to get a cooling effect on the crate contents, it is sufficient if the cooling element 6 or 10 the sleeve 10 is cooled in advance, although it is preferable that both are cooled. Therefore, the cooling effect can also be obtained in an embodiment in which only one of the cover 3 or the sleeve 10 is provided with coolant, and the other only has an insulating effect.

In the preferred embodiment of Figure 8, the lid 3 is provided on its top side with a recess 13 surrounded by an upright edge 14 and the crate 2 is provided on its underside with a protruding edge 15.

When two combinations 1 are stacked, the protruding edge of the lid falls.

The recess 13, edge 15 form a stack two on the crate 3 in the upright edge 14, the recess 13 and the projecting combinations of guides 1 which guide it, which is an orientation that is in which one lies, and which stabilize a stack in this preferred orientation in that they have a lateral movement on the sides of the crates 3 in the same planes

- 12 prevent stacks from stacking.

combinations 1

Claims (8)

Conclusions 1. - A combination (1) of a crate (2) for beverage bottles (4) or for beverage cans or for beverage boxes and a lid (3) fitting on the crate (2), the lid (3) being at least partially made of thermally insulating material and / or the lid (3) is provided with at least one reservoir (6) that is filled with coolant. A combination according to claim 1, characterized in that the lid (3) is provided with at least one reservoir (6) that is filled with coolant. A combination according to claim 2, characterized in that the at least one reservoir (6) and the remainder (5) of the lid (3) are adapted to be able to repeatedly remove and reposition the at least one reservoir (6) from be able to attach to the remainder (5) of the lid (3). A combination according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lid (3) is provided on its underside with support points or a support surface (7) with which it can rest on an upper edge of the crate (2), wherein the lid (3) is provided with one or more parts (6, 9) protruding on the underside from the support surface (7) or the geometric surface defined by the support points thereby causing a lateral movement of the cover (3) when the cover (3) 3) is placed on the crate (2). A combination according to any one of claims, characterized in that the combination (1) of the foregoing is arranged to be stably stackable on an identical combination (1) when applied to both combinations. A combination according to claim 5, characterized in that the top of the lid and the bottom of the crate are provided with complementary guide members. A combination according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is of separate compartments, each of which is adapted to receive one beverage bottle of beverage can or beverage box. 8.- A combination according to a from the previous one conclusions, thereby is characterized Which it lid (3) a thermally insulating lid (3) is Which minimal partially made from a thermal insulation material or stuffed up i s with a thermal insulation material. 9. A combination according to a from the previous one conclusions, thereby characterized in that the kr at (2) top view rectangular in shape i s and external dimensions (L, B) has from 30 cm at 4 0 cm. 10.- A combination according to a from the previous one combination characterized in that the claims, therefore, also comprises at least one cover element (10) to cover one or crate (2). more sides, and preferably all sides, of it A combination according to claim 10, characterized in that the at least one cover element (10) is at least partially made of a thermally insulating material (11) and / or is provided with at least one internal cavity (12) filled with coolant. A combination according to claim 10 or 11, thereby is characterized that it has at least one cover element is like one sleeve (10) around the sides of the crate (2) envelop. 13.- One combination according to claim 12, thereby is characterized in that the sleeve (10) is arranged to be folded flat without being damaged. Use of a combination (1) according to any one of the preceding claims for cooling or keeping cool, preferably beer, contained in a bottle (4) or can or box, the bottle (4) or the can or box is in the crate (2). Use according to claim 14, characterized in that the combination is a combination (1) according to claim 7, wherein more than one of the compartments, and preferably all compartments, are provided with a said bottle (4) or can or box . 1/4 2/4 3/4 4/4 Resume A combination (1) of a crate (2) for beverage bottles (4) or for beverage cans or for beverage boxes and a container thereon 5 fitting lid (3), wherein the lid (3) is at least partially made of thermally insulating material and / or the lid (3) is provided with at least one reservoir (6) that is filled with coolant. Such a combination can be used for cooling 10 or keeping a drink cool in a bottle (4) or other package, the bottle or other package (4) being in the crate (2).