US2332001A - Bottle carrier - Google Patents

Description

j Oct. '19, 1943. J. NEMETZ BOTTLE CARRIER Filed Jan. 22, 1941 Patented Oct. 19, 1943 1:

STATES PATEN KQFFI CE H 2,ss2,001: r r a a BOTTLE Q 7 J l s Nemetz, itb l mraim n isaiihh 'Janha vl 22, 941! Sriai N 31 498 is G'laims. (01.224-487;

hvehtic re a e to. improved devic tor arryin ami holdin a l rali f contams sh. a rQw-hecked. b tles u e cl for s dr nk an thea, I t V v t its h hmhh. wa iqe qr a c hsumer to pursh se rsi e hments ,dr aas noain quanti y lo s su h as three Q s abot ss a a time: Be ause f he, f ihhlt handlin a d arry n a quan- I 'ig. a persbective vievv of the ir veritior -ip a c l a sed osi iqn;

2 h e-.4 is a vi w 9 1th? l ne 47- of F g-13 i iusrat nsh w apli alitmtcarriers ma besta ked 'ti y 99 bot les rr ers ar o ten av 19 h EQl YQ li QGQ 0f he. purc aser. Norma the Pr ced re i or he. purchaser o pay a dehqs 11 11 bqtt t l i hh re iv n them fr m th @00 or the etail r an ap o a re und HPQn. th ir re ii han event, he mp bqt l ar usuall re urned nd t has. imp rta nt to provide a earrier that, will be serviceable 91 a l h l n ident. to e se nd retu n Q ttle as it i to t e; hrq ase t e o In the ast these carriers have comm0nly been made .of a. ma e su as ardboa d t at is su t to dama d s ruq eh s ch 'thrch h a pt o mo s ur or tear ng thr ugh handlin he o wh ch. sa t o t m nate theuseful lite Qi he a r tur ed renderrieravoided these diflicql -ties and were suitable for c n nued use a t i retur t obvious y w ul e o mesh reater be efit to the n: mt r. an t ls t SQ a he att r o s rv eh trifi h f t hat tim the emp b ttl s ab li y app a ahh and ep a m s e ch p rhs t is hareiqr t the r nci al bje ihiy n en n to. rov de n imprqved t e ear i i a rel ively inexpensive and: imp h fle ns ruc on hat. w l ith tand e t d iia h dlihe an w l retain i s eat appearance. v

h t b i ct, f my ihveht h. st pro de a bottle carrier fora plurality of bottles; that holds h h 't es fi m n. ih e rhest e a to reduce breakage and noise ineider t to their bhmp h q h A r fi i q isht of my; inven io i o ro i e ah t s carrier'of a ar iqea lc. ahcid ra e p tha y he b la s d qr s a k n in a li i ed siaacewhile in storage or shipment.

nactive r aca It a s ah b e of m n n ion too r v d a 6mm hiF hen, fi ld w th i s omp e t of bottles, opclipies a space substantially equivalent tothat' occupied by the bottles themselves, for storage, display and shipmentin a minimum of space, and "can be, stacked with like. carrier s, w a n h her o ran p r o or is Pla .-v

Other objects of my invention such as itsaglaptap'ili ty for display p irp os eswill appear from the fqllowir g description ar d figures, wherein; j re s a and. ev ti of ha mbhdk t t! m inv h h. adapte f r ca a 'qhhb e row b kett es; I 25%.? isasid WaLt gd vihe V "ing the capacity (it each of one hr onth other;

. sis anoe d elevati n c ith ff lnociifi ati n i 1 .Eteierrihs to, he e' ho imeht f y nven ion shQwh; h ss. .1 9 wh ch s ecia y adapted or s ii smaller b e age bot es. s or 351 39 3 he s andarsi. $25 eight or welv ounce bottles, the bottom isformed of three wire m mbers 1, Bah?! 9; the first hflwhivh defines .1 nil ratiqhq EhQh tQI-Q ll0 2l1$i50f a ingl w thv mcmbelfwhh h en s are Secured heeth b msthq 119. 1. s @Qkifih I1 W re member? is en rally. hblq n Shh-he a d h s end portions II and I2 which are inelined up-. wardl yv to form an angie slightly more than w th de ails H and l oi-the membe e bottom members 8 and Q have their end portions bent upwardlyat the same degree o f'angularity, theiren ds being sec regto the 6 9 8131809 5 of the end portion H am, I b mean s i'c as l e Th s e em e s eons sto nve t d generally U-shaped wirepieces l5 and I6 whose lower end portions are looped arolir d side rails I73" and M, respectively, adjacent the end portions II and I2, as show nat I1 and l 8 to permit swin able movement with respect to the side rails. This hinge mo e n f. the s de mem er and I 5 th respect to the bottoir pern its the device t xbe hh l p i i. a ndicated n. 3 so t t a ua b iPYhi. 7. 1? c th a rtiha relat on as sh w in fQ shi ihePh Pos s r o t a e t a t 'ahs aw ishth end. ortio H d make "th-thes ide rails l3 a is slightly more than 90, permits the'ihterfitting of these bott m; as h wn-by the 45 f t t apparent r m this that a. eonsiderable number of carriers may e s ked thin a. mi edsn he, n twit st n theizi'to receive six ot l in he qse ns tiom 'i hist t i Fi s, 1 ar1d2.

The rail construction of the bottom and of the side members I5 and [6' provides a carrier that outwardly and inwardly; respegtively,

carriers maybe stacked one uponl the The, fact are set within the carrier and the side members I5 and I6 are moved to the closed position, the retaining members 24 and 25 will be tensioned In Figs. 5 and 6 there is illustrated a carrier suitable for the reception of a single row of bottles, more especially for larger sizes such as the twenty-four, twenty-six and thirty-two ounce bottles, the construction of this embodiment being substantially as that described above. The bottom I is of a narrow dimension so as to ac- ".Icommodate only a single row of bottles and it against the bottles, as at 21, to hold them snugly' and firmly within the carrier. The use of broad strips as retaining members 24 and 25 gives greater stability to the bottles within the carrier since they may engage the bottles at various vertical positions.

The configuration of the side members I5 and I6 permits the carrier within the closed position, to occupy a space substantially that occupied by the bottles. In this connection, it will be noted that the bottoms of the bottles, such as shown at 28, will project beyond the width of the carrier bottom, and the overall height dimension of the carrier is substantially the same as the height of the bottles 26. This permits the stacking of loaded carriers, one upon the other, and in a space substantially equal to the space that would be occupied by the bottles themselves so that the stacking space required is held to a minimum. The outer surfaces of the retaining members 24 and 25 lend themselves to effective display advertising of the contents of the carrier, so that the customer may be advised as to the merits of the drink, its trade name, generic designation, or whatever the seller deems suitable. parent that loaded carriers provide a substantially unobstructed view of the bottles within, and also of the labels thereon, for more effective display purposes.

A central panel 29, in this instance of thin sheet metal, is swingably suspended by spaced upwardly projecting arms 3I and 32 from the crosspiece 33 of side member I6, the ends of V the arms 3I and 32 being curled around the crosspiece. The spacing of the arms SI and 32 permits the crosspiece 33 with the crosspiece 34 of side member I5 to form a' compound handle which may be'grasped for carrying. As is clear from Figure 1, the panel 28 serves as a divider for the double row of bottles to reduce the likelihood of bottle breakage through glass to glass contact, and to reduce endwise shiftingof adjacent rows of bottles with respect to one another. Ears 35 are struck up from the panel 29 to divided the carrier into individual bottle compartments whereby adjacent bottles within the same row are prevented from making contact with one another, thereby reducing rattling and the breakage hazard. When the carrier is only partially filled with bottles, they will be prevented from toppling within each row because of the compartments formed bythe ears 35; Y

A lock 36 consisting of a horizontally disposed hooked-shaped piece integral with the crosspiece 34 is provided. When the side walls I5 and I6 approach the closed position, they are tensioned from one another by the resistance imparted by retaining members 24 and 25. The lock 36 is hooked around the crosspiece 33 while under this tension to fasten the side members I5 and I6 securely togethenas well as firmly hold the vbottles within the carrier to prevent rattling and breakage. The lock is released by forcing the crosspieces 33 and 34 together to permit theunhooking of the lock 36;

It is apr requires but a single member 8'. Side members I5 and I6 are similar to those already described except that they are designed to terminate at a point immediately below the bulbous portion 31 of the bottle 26'. Two lock members 38 and 39 are provided each having the configuration of lock 36 and being interspaced with respect to the bottles, as shown by Fig. 6. Each of the lock members 38 and 39 are formed integrally with the crosspiece 34' and are locked to the crosspiece 33' through the hooking arrangement already described. In this construction the side members I5' and I6 are tensioned against the bottles 26', as at 4| and 42, and, in addition, the bottles are grippedbeneath the bulbous portion 31 by the crosspieces 33' and 34. The use of spaced locks 38 and 39 assures that the bottles will be held firmly at their top portions and that there will be no toppling of the bottles in a partially filled carrier. It is clear that the carriers when filled can be stacked in a space substantially that of the bottles themselves, and when empty a number of them may be stacked in a limited space in a collapsed position after the method described. For handling purposes, the loaded carrier may be grasped by inserting the fingers between the tops of the bottles and using the crosspieces 33 and 34 as a compound handle.

Special attention is directed to a further and important advantage of my improved construction, in that it functions to materially reduce the cost of distribution of beverages of this type both as to labor and materials. In distributing the bottled beverages to retail dealers, particularly where the commodity must be moved by truck, it is necessary for the bottler to insert the bottles into wooden cases commonly holding twenty-four or twelve bottles, depending upon the size of the bottle. These cases are customarily provided with collapsible paper or cardboard separators which act to separate the bottles in the case. In this way the bottler is enabled to place -case upon case in the truck, and to thus assemble a truck load within a commercially feasible space. When so arranged the cases as indicated at 43 and 44 in Fig. 7, rest upon each other at their edges, the side walls of the cases being slightly wider than the height of the bottles, and therefore the weight of the superimposed cases is taken by the box as distinguished from the bottles. It is then necessary for the bottler or distributor, upon reaching the retail establishment, to remove the bottles frOm the cases and place them in the carriers for delivery to the retailer. This i customarily done by the driver of the truck, and consumes a considerable amount of time in the delivery of the commodity to the retaller. Furthermore, it necessitates the use of both paper separators in the case and of carriers in the process of distribution of the commodity. It will be seen that I have constructed the carrier herein disclosed in such manner that the requisite number of carriers can be inserted into the case by the bottler and, as the bottle capping operations proceed, the bottlesv can be directly assembled in a single operation into both the carriers and the cases. To accomplish this,

the carriers are assembled in the cases with the locks 36 left unlatched so that the side walls l and I6 occupy a slightly expanded position. This permits the bottles to be freely slipped into the carriers, and therefore the carriers are latched together to confine the bottles as heretofore described. It will be seen that the overall height of the carriers is no greater than that of the bottles themselves so that the entire unit consisting of a carrier and its enclosed bottles, will rest completely within the confines of the cases so that the cases can be stacked in the same manner as though the carriers were absent.

I claim:

1. A carrier made essentially of wire for holding a plurality of narrow necked bottles such as those employing a crown cap comprising in combination a wire bottom member having a generally elongated shape and of a width substantially less than that of a pair of bottles for the use of which the carrier is intended, said bottom member having an outer frame comprising an upwardly extending end portion at each end thereof to serve as abutment members to prevent endwise displacement of the bottles, marginal wires along each side disposed beneath the bottles and at least one wire piece interconnecting the end portions intermediate said marginal wires and in the plane of the latter, a pair of side members each consisting of a pair of inverted generally U-shaped wire members only slightly greater in height than the height of the bottles and having parallel posts and an interconnecting crosspiece, the lower ends of said posts being swingably mounted to said bottom member with the said members in alignment with the elongated sides thereof, said lower ends of each of said side members being looped around said marginal wires between the end portions to be rotatable about an axis beneath'and within the plane of the bottles, the posts being disposed adjacent said end portions to prevent shifting of the side members with respect to said bottom member, said side members being inclined outwardly and then inwardly above said lower ends so that said crosspieces of said U-shaped members pass over the heads of the bottles and approach each other for use as a combined handle at a height not in excess of the height of the bottles within the carriers, a metal sheet connecting the outwardly inclined portions of said posts of each of said side members to bear against and tension the bottles within the carrier when the side members are in the operative position, said sheets being located to bear along their lower edges against the sides of the bottles at their broad portions to resiliently hold the bottles together in mutual supporting relationship, and means for locking said side members in an operative position.

2. A metal carrier for a plurality of narrow necked bottles such as those employing a crown cap, the combination of a bottom member of generally elongated shape formed of a rigid material, a pair of upstanding abutment members on each end of the said bottom member for preventing endwise displacement of the bottles, a pair of side members each consisting of an inverted generally U-shaped wire member having parallel posts and an interconnecting crosspiece, the lower ends of said posts being swingably mounted to said bottom member in alignment with an elongated side thereof, the said side members being inclined inwardly abovethe lower ends of said posts so that crosspieces of the said U-shaped members approach each other for use as a compound handle when the sides are in the vertical position, a panel swingably suspended from the crosspiece of one of said side members and depending to a point between the side portions of the bottles to separate two parallel rows of bottles to reduce the tendency of endwise shifting of each of the rows of bottles with respect to one another, means projecting outwardly from said crosspiece at substantially a right angle with respect thereto to provide individual compartments for each bottle Within each row, means running horizontally between the legs of each side members for supporting and exerting tension upon the bottles and the carrier, said means being located to bear against the sides of the bottles at their broad base portions to hold the bottles together in mutual supporting relationship, and means for locking the said side members in an operative position.

3. In a carrier for holding a plurality of narrow necked bottles such as those employing a crown cap, the combination of a bottom member having a generally elongated shape and of a width substantally less than a pair of bottles for whose use the carrier is intended, said bottom member comprising an outer frame formed of an endless wire piece having an upwardly projecting end portion at each end to serve as abutment members to prevent endwise displacement of the bottles and having at least one wire piece interconnecting the end portions of the said outer frame to support the bottoms of the said bottles, a pair of side members each consisting of a pair of inverted generally U-shaped members having parallel posts and an interconnecting crosspiece, the lower ends of said posts being swingably mounted to said bottom member in alignment with an elongated side thereof, said lower ends of each of said side members being looped around the said outer frame between the said end portions thereof andproximate to the end portions to prevent shifting of the side members with respect to the said outer frame, the said side members being inclined outwardly and then inwardly above the said lower ends so that the crosspieces of the said. U-shaped members approach each other for use as a compound handle at a height not in excess of the height of the bottles within the carriers, a metal sheet connecting the outwardly inclined portions of the posts of each of said side members for tensioning the bottles within the carrier when the side members are in the operative position, said sheets being located to bear along their lower edges against the sides of the bottles at their broad portions to resiliently hold the bottles together in mutual supporting relationship, means for locking the said side members in an operative position, a metal panel having spaced upwardly projecting arms swingably suspended from a crosspiece of one of said side members and depending to a point between the wide portions of the bottles, and outwardly projecting ears struck from said panel and disposed at right angles thereto in the area between the wide portions of the bottles to separate the bottles and to prevent shifting of the bottles with respect to one another during handling.

JULIUS N EMETZ.

Images