US2441134A

US2441134A - Bottle carrier and package

Info

Publication number: US2441134A
Application number: US352810A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ernest M Brogden; Ronald R Brogden
Original assignee: PRESIDENT AND DIRECTORS OF
Current assignee: PRESIDENT AND DIRECTORS OF; PRESIDENT AND DIRECTORS OF MANHATTAN Co
Priority date: 1940-08-15
Filing date: 1940-08-15
Publication date: 1948-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 1965-05-11

Description

May 11, 1948. E. M. BROGDEN ETAL BOTTLE CARRIER AND PACKAG Filed Aug. 15, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 NVENTORS Elf/V557 M moans/v iga/v0 R BIFOGDE/V I I H I I P I I I IJPJI IJ.

May 11, 1948. E. MQBROGDEN ETAL BOTTLE CARRIER AND PACKAGE Filed Aug. 15, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORJ [mm 7 M swam/v 5 1mm 2 BROS/161V BOTTLE CARRIER AND PACKAGE Filed Aug. 15, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR 3 EPA/57 mazoaauv Patented May 11, 1948 BOTTLE CARRIER monomer:

Ernest M. Brogden and Ronald R. Brogden, Savannah, Ga., assignors to the president and directors of the Manhattan. Company (sometimes known as Bank of the Manhattan Company), trustee, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 15, 1940, Serial No. 352,810

1 7 Claims.

This invention relates to bottle carriers and packages;' and it relates more particularly to a novel carrier or container adapted for use especially in the distribution of soft drinks and beer to consumers, said carrier and the package constituted by the combination thereof with a group of bottles held thereby possessing distinctive characteristics of great practical utility and advantage not heretofore realized in the art.

In the distribution of bottled beverages, such as soft drinks and beer, to consumers, it is now common practice to package a small number of bottles, usually six or less, all of a given uniform size or capacity and shape, in a carrier or container of paperboard or the like for sale to customers in retail stores, and to encourage the customer, after the beverage is consumed, to bring the bottles back in such carrier to obtain a refund of the deposit for the bottles commonly required at the time of purchase. Various kinds of bottle carriers have been proposed heretofore for this purpose, and a number of them have gone into actual use to a greater or less extent; but it is a well known fact that all these prior proposals have fallen far short of being entirely satisfactory for the purpose, each of them being characterized by defects or objections of one kind or another which, although their existence has been quite generally recognized by the art, have heretofore resistec attempts to overcome them. None of such prior bottle carriers meets, at the most, more than a part of the many important and sometimes conflicting practical requirements which should be met by a carrier that is to be actually satisfactory; while the complicated structure or extreme crudeness (or both) of most of them, coupled with cost that is often excessively high, further emphasizes the lack heretofore of any adequate solution of the problem presented.

A primary requirement of a bottle carrier for the purposes stated is that it shall hold the consumer-unit or small plurality of bottles firmly in a compact group, with substantially no relative movement of the component members of the group that would tend to cause mutual impact and resultant breakage. The bottles must also be so held that there is no danger of their falling out of the container under practical conditions of use which necessarily includes more or less careless and even rough handling by distributors and customers. Yet, as against this, it must be easy for the customer to remove the filled bottles from the carrier or container and also to replace the empty bottles therein and carry them back to the store for refund of the bottle deposit, likewise without any danger of the empty bottles falling out of the carrier. In other words, this part of the problem involves providing for positive retention of the bottles in the container to prevent accidental dislodgment and falling out, without at the same time making removal so difflcult that the consumer is likely to rupture or destroy the container, thus rendering it useless for returning the empty bottles. In order to provide for easy removal of the bottles, bottle carriers heretofore proposed have in most instances been of such character that the packages are flimsy and loose, the bottles being capable of such substantial relative movement within the container that, in the course of ordinary handling, they bump into each other and are chipped or even broken; the bottles also readily falling out of the container if the package is upset or tilted considerably.

Again, simplicity is indispensable in the construction of such a carrier, not only because its cost must be kept down but because consumers will not ordinarily take the time to bother with constructions which require much thought to unload or to re-fill with empty bottles. A complicated construction'therefore simply invites destruction of the carrier by the consumer, thus greatly reducing the chances that the empty bottles will ever be returned to the bottler. Yet, in order to provide some means designed to prevent bottles from falling out of the container, resort has been had heretofore to various more or less complicated expedients which, in addition to frequently increasing the carrier cost substantially, are further objectionable as making it much slower to load or fill with bottles at the bottling or distributing plant, besides rendering it difiicult for the customer to replace the empty bottles in the carrier when he is readyto return them to the store for a refund. In some in-' stances this has been carried to the point where the consumer cannot get the bottles out without destroying or damaging the carrier, or at least taking it apart or dismantling it.

Furthermore, some form of hand-hold or handle, by which the package can be carried conveniently and comfortably by the customer, is indispensable. Prior proposals have been quite generally characterized by insufficient attention to this phase of the problem, which is highly important when it is borne in mind that a group of half'a dozen filled 12-ounce bottles, a number widely sold as a retail consumer unit in the case of soft drinks, for example, represents a substantial weight which can soon become very uncomfortable to carry it a hand-hold is provided that tends to cut the fingers. Most bottle carriers heretofore proposed embodying handholds formed by registering openings provided in abutting end portions of the elongated blanks from which the carriers are set up; and although resort has been had to interlocking cut-out flaps and other devices for shielding the sharp edge of the resultant upstanding hand-hold thus formed, thme have only partially mitigated the objection while at the same time further complicating the container construction.

In addition, the package as a whole, consisting of the carrier loaded with bottles, should present an attractive appearance and should also provide for so exposing at least a part of the bottles of the group that the labels thereon can be effectively displayed. The carrier itself should also provide an adequate area of unobstructed surface for carrying appropriate advertising matter.

Aside from the foregoing, a factor that is fundamental because of the highly competitive conditions prevailing in the trade is that a carrier of this kind shall be of low cost to manufacture, and also that the labor cost of loading or packing bottles into it at the bottling or distributing plant shall be very small. This fundamental requirement of low cost in respect both to cheapness of manufacture and ease and rapidity of loading and packing, imposes a practical limitation which greatly complicates the problem when the necessity of meeting the other requirements above mentioned is considered. As a result, bottle carriers heretofore proposed quite generally involve an extravagant use of the paperboard or like flexible sheet material of which they are made, in respect both to the area thereof necessary to employ and also its gauge or thickness. A factor contributing largely to this extravagance has been the fundamental requirement that the carrier must in any event be amply strong to carry the rather substantial loads involved; and since the prior proposed constructions have invariably failed either to achieve really, compact loading or to provide for strain distribution even reasonably. approximating true uniformity, the use .of excessively heavy and correspondingly expensive paperboard stock as the carrier material was unavoidable.

A principal object of the present invention is I to provide a novelbottle carrier and container, and the combination thereof with a contained consumer-unit or group of bottles forming a complete package, which takes into account all the requirements above outlined and meets them satisfactorily, thus obviating wholly or in large part the objections inherent in prior carriers and packages of the general class concerned. This object is achieved by correlating certain essential structural features of the carrier and of the complete package in a manner novel in the art and with the attainment of advantageous results not heretofore achieved.

Generally described, the bottle carrier or carton of the invention is in the form of an openended tube made of somewhat stiff but flexible tles from falling out of the carrier.

ing parallelism with the base. The top of the carrier is provided with one or more rows of apertures extending longitudinally of the tube, that is, parallel to its axis, these apertures being suitably spaced apart in the row and of a size suflicient to permit the tapered neck portions of the bottles to project therethrough for a substantial distance above the highest portion or crest of the carrier top. Provision is made, by aperturing or otherwise, adjacent the junctions of the two side walls with the bottom whereby to permit the circular base edges or rims of bottles with which the container is to be loaded to project into lock ing engagement with the side walls. The size of the neck-receiving apertures in the carrier top is so correlated to the virtual height of the carrier or, in other words, to the peripheral distance between said apertures and the corresponding respective junctions with the side walls of the carrier bottom that when bottles of predetermined uniform size and shape are loaded into the car-- rier, lateral projection of the bottle rims or base edges into the aforesaid locking engagement with the side walls is compelled. Thus, as a result of co-ordinating the several aforesaid structural features in the manner described, in designing the carrier to accommodate bottles of given uniform size and shape, the carrier or container has, in effect, a greater cross-section available for bottle accommodation on the transverse planes passing through the center lines of the bottles positioned in the longitudinal row or rows, than it has at its open ends or at localities intermediate adjacent bottles in the row. This relative restriction of the effective area of the open ends of the carrier and certain intermediate peripheral zones affords positive resistance effective to maintain all the bottles in their proper predetermined positions and, especially, to prevent the end bot- The bottle group is thus held compactly within the container, the whole forming a structurally strong of anend bottle and, using the edge of the contai'ner top as a fulcrum, exert relativelyslight leverage on the bottle to tilt it and force the base and body portion outwardly through the open end v against the resistance of the relatively constricted end margin. The bottles intermediate the open ends 'of the carrier ends can then be easily removed. In loading the carrier or carton; where it is pre-formedand the loading is performed manually, the operation is in general the reverse of that just described. Both the loading and unloading operations will be explained in greater detail hereinafter.

Other novel features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In order to enable a fuller understanding of the principles of the invention, certain desirable practical embodiments thereof will be described in detail hereinafter by way of illustrative examples, without intending, thereby to restrict the scope of the invention. The aforesaid illustrative examples are shown in the accompanying drawings wherein Figs. 1 and 2 are a side elevation and end elevation, respectively, of a carrier and package wherein a group of bottles is arranged in a single row;

Fig. 3 is a plan, looking at the package of Figs. 1 and 2 from below;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, partly broken away and in section, illustrating how the bottles may be inserted into or removed from the package;

Fig. 5 is a development of the carrier or carton blank from which the carrier is formed;

Fig. 6 is a view of the completed or set-up carton and assembled handle, collapsed flat for s ippi Fig. 7 is a plan or a desirable type of detachable handle strip, viewed from its under side;

Fig. 8 is an end view of the handle strip on a larger scale, partly in section on the line 8-8 of Fig, 7, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figs. 9 and 10 are a side elevation and end elevation, respectively, of another embodiment of the carrier and package of the invention, this carrier being adapted to hold two rows of three bottles each;

Fig. 11 is a development of the blank from which the carrier of Figs. 9 and 10 is set up;

Fig. 12 is a plan showing the package of Figs. 9 and 10, on a smaller scale, as viewed from below; and

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary end elevation, also on a smaller scale, illustrating a modified detail of construction.

Referring first more particularly to that form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, the open-ended tubular carrier indicated generally at C is designed to carry a single row of bottles B, there being in this instance three bottles in the row, although of course the number may be greater or less than three. The carrier is formed from a unitary strip of flexible sheet material, such as paperboard or like material of suitable gauge bent into the desired form with its ends Ill and I l firmly secured together permanently in any suitable way, as by gluing, stapling, stitching or otherwise. In this instance, said ends are shown overlapped and glued together, by way of example. Bottom section I! is defined by bending lines I 3 and I 4 which are desirably scored or creased in the material of the 7 registry with bending line i 9 when the blank ends have been overlapped and secured together in setting up the carrier from the blank. The top section is desirably provided with additiona1 bending lines 20 to facilitate ready fiexure and close conformation to the contour of the lower neck or shoulder portions of the bottles. As

shown, both top and bottom sections, as well as the side wall sections, are longitudinally continuous.

The top section of the carrier is provided with a straight row of apertures 2| which are of such size and configuration as to fit with reasonable snugness about the lower portions of the necks and shoulders of the bottles. As here shown they are substantially circular but if desired they may be elongated somewhat in a direction transverse to the bending lines in order to increase conformability of the top section to the bottle shoulders.

Adjacent the bending lines i3, i4, defining the bottom section, there are provided apertures 22 arranged in two rows of three each, these apertures being alined with neck-receiving apertures 2|. This is a. desirable form of the aforesaid provision for locking or gripping engagement of the base edges or rims 24 of the bottles by the side wall sections I 5 and I6. As here shown. said apertures are generally triangular in form, each with its base 23 parallel to the bending lines l3 and i4 and most desirably havin at least the two corners adjacent this base rounded. In this instance, said bases 23 of these rimgripping apertures are located on the bending lines i3 and Il; and since the bottom section [2 is narrower than the diameter of the cylindrical bottle body, the other two edges of each of these apertures extend around the bottle rims and inwardly a short distance under the bottles in the completed package, the bottom section nevertheless remaining longitudinally continuous. This arrangement is particularly effective in securing good gripping contact of the edges of apertures 22 with the portions of the bottle rims protruding therethrough.

Most desirably, the center lines through the respective top openings 2| and the respectively cooperating lateral base openings 22 are spaced apart longitudinally of the carrier a distance slightly greater than the bottle diameter, so that when the bottles are in position in the carrier they are held slightly out of contact at both their shoulders and bases. The space between bottles in the row may amount, in a typical instance, to around one-sixteenth to one-eighth inch.

As here shown, the side wall sections and lateral or shoulder portions of the top section are cut away as indicated at 25 so that the end bottles have a larger portion of their surface exposed at the side than the intermediate bottle in the row. Besides being desirable for display purposes, this has the effect also of making it slightly easier to remove the end bottles from the carrier as will further appear hereinafter.

The carton is also provided with a carrying handle indicated generally at 26. This is in the form of a strip which may be of the same flexible material as the carrier itself, terminally anchored in the opposed upright side walls and extending over the top of the carrier; the strip being of suflicient length to provide a loop affording a grip portion 21 well above the tops of the bottles so that there will be plenty of room for the knuckles between this portion and the tops of the bottles when the handle loop is grasped. The handle should be of such character that it can be collapsed downwardly toward the carrier top on either side of the center bottle of the row in order not to interfere with stacking the packages one on top of another. For this purpose, any suitable type of handle strip having barbed ends engaging in slits or slots in the side walls of the carrier is suitable, but the particular form here illustrated has special advantages for several reasons, especially when used with bottle carriers required to carry fairly heavy loads. In the particular form here shown, the handle or handle strip, which is formed of one piece of paperboard, is bifurcated at each end portion to provide two locking members or tongues 28, each having a doubly barbed head 29, these barbed heads being adapted to enter a pair of spaced locking slots 30 provided in the side walls of the carrier adjacent the top. The slots are so contoured that the pair of locking heads 29 can be readily thrust therelnto if the handle end is bent slightly about its center line to concave it slightly. This arrangement provides four barbs or hearing points at each end of the handle, instead of the conventional two barbs, thus reducing by 50 per cent the shearing stress of each barb against the sheet materialof the carrier. This is of extreme importance where, as is frequently the case, the load carried amounts to as much as twelve pounds or more. The length of the slot 3i separating the members 28 at each end of the handle strip, that is, the effective length of the individual locking tongues, should be suflicient to permit collapsing the handle toward the carrier top to the desired extent before it is stopped by engagement of the separating slot end with the section 32 of sheet material left between the locking slots 30 of each pair. The arrangement permits rocking the handle loop to one side or the other of the central bottle neck so that it can be thrust entirely below the tops of the bottles.

In order to reinforce the grip portion 21 and render it more comfortable to the hand, the blank from which the handle is formed is so cut as to provide marginal flaps 33 which are folded under and glued in position. A score line 34 at each end of the grip portion 21 facilitates bending of the handle strip at these locations.

Assuming the carrier to have been completed and assembled with the handle as shown in Fig. 6, which illustrates the assemblage in fiat or knocked down condition as received from the carton manufacturer, it can be rapidly loaded in the manner now to be described. After the carrier is opened up and stood erect upon its bottom l2, the central bottle is first placed in position by holding it at the base and thrusting it into either end of the carrier at an angle so that its capped upper end enters the central one of the aligned openings 2| in the top section, the neck being pushed therethrough far enough to permit the body of the bottle then to be forced into the erect position illustrated. Because of the co-ordinatlon of the various structural features already discussed, this involves placing the material of the carrier under an appreciable peripheral or circumferential bursting stress which, however, is not sufiicient to cause rupture.

The stress is most noticeable as the bottle base enters the end of the carrier, and again as it passes over the unapertured portion of the side walls just before enteringthe opposed pair of openings 22 at the middle of the carrier. Those localities of stress constitute relatively constricted end and intermediate peripheral (circumferential) zones of reduced effective crosssectional area. When the bottle has attained its final upright position, this stress is relieved owing to the provision of the cooperating lateral base openings 22, and the proper correlation or co-ordination of the effective height of the container with the diameter of the neck opening 2|.

The two end bottles are then grasped, one in each hand, and similarly thrust in angularly to project their neck portions through end apertures 2| and forced into upright position against the resistance of the restricted peripheral end zones of the carrier, the stress on the carrier being considerably relieved as soon as the bottles have slipped past the constricted end zones and into the somewhat larger zones defined by the cooperating lateral base openings 22.

That there is substantial stress on the carrier material in thus inserting the bottles into position is evidenced by the snap" with which they assume their final upright positions. There is 8 evidently some momentary stretching of the carrier material which, although the elastic limit of the material is relatively low, is not sufiicient to cause a substantial permanent set, assuming the carrier to be properly proportioned in accordance with the principles of the invention.

In removing the bottles from the container, the operation is the reverse of that described. By grasping the protruding neck of an end bottle and giving it a kind of twist or tilt into the position illustrated at the left in Fig. 4, with the lower portion of the neck bearing against the container top, and at the same time pushing endwise, the bottle springs out quickly with little eilfort. After removal of either and bottle, the. intermediate bottle comes out easily in the same general manner.

In order to provide for slight irregularities in size and contour of even supposedly uniform or standard sized bottles, and to guard against bursting the carrier when loading it in the manner above described, provision may be made whereby the margins of the neck openings 2| are somewhat weakened in such manner that they will yield under stress to accommodate the bottles without actual rupture of the carrier. For example, small cuts 2m may be provided, one on each side of the central neck opening 2|, and one on the inner side only of each end neck opening, to permit slight upward yielding of the margins of the neck openings, with resultant relief of bursting tension on the carrier material. While convenient and sometimes desirable for this purpose, these small cuts or slits are not indispensable, since it is possible to accomplish much the same purpose in other ways as, for instance, by giving the neck openings a very slightly larger diameter than should be required for the given standard size bottle. This diameter enlargement may be on the order of onethirty-second or one-sixteenth of an lnch. It results in a very slightly looser final package, but not to an extent that is objectionable in practice. The middle opening 2| may also be made slightly larger than the others, since the neck of the corresponding bottle has to enter it at a greater angle from the vertical than the angle at which the necks of the end bottles enter the end openings.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 9-12, the carrier C is designed to carry six bottles B in two longitudinal rows of three each. The top section 40 of the carrier is included between bending lines 4!. Each side section 42 extends from a bending line 4| to a bending line 43; while the bottom is formed by end portions 44 and 45 which overlap and are securely fastened together as by gluing, the glued overlap being indicated at 48 in Fig. 11'.

The top section is provided with two rows of neck-receiving apertures 41 which are circular in their portions adjacent the central crest portion 40a of the carrier top and taper toward the respective bend lines 41 defining the lateral edges of said top. Shaping the openings in this way facilitates loading of the two rows of bottles into the container and likewise their subsequent removal from the container by the consumer. It also furthers the important general objective of causing all parts of the carrier to conform closely and snugly to the contained article group. Additional pairs of bending

lines

48 and 49 enable the edges of the openings to engage with the desired degree of closeness the lower neck portions and shoulders of the bottles, which together may be regarded as constituting the top face of the bottle group, and to contribute generally to the snugness with which the carrier hugs the bottle group not only on its top face but also on its two vertical side faces and bottom face in circumferential series therewith. Each of the side sections 42 is provided with openings 50, in line, respectively, with corresponding neck openings 41, said openings 50 being similar to openings 22 of the single line bottle carrier already described and being provided for a' similar purpose. As shown in Figs. and 12, the bottom section of the carrier is substantially narrower than twice the diameter of the bottle of given size which the carrier accommodates, whereby the base portions of openings 50 extend around the base edges or rims 50a of the bottles and under the bottle bottoms on each side of the package, thereby enhancing the gripping action of the edges of each aperture 50 on the rim of the bottle engaged thereby.

The longitudinal spacing apart, between centers, of the adjacent neck openings 41 and corresponding lateral base openings 50 may be slightly greater than the given bottle diameter, so that the bottles in each longitudinal row are slightly spaced apart both at their shoulders and at their base edges or rims. In addition, the two series of neck openings may be transversely spaced apart sufficiently to prevent the shoulders of the bottles of the two longitudinal rows from contacting, as clearly shown in Fig. 10. This leaves only the two bottles in each transverse row in contact, or a total of three contact points in this particular instance. Even this latter can be eliminated, if desired, by turning up a margin of one of the ends of the blank to provide a longitudinally extending separator 5| as illustrated in Fig. 13.

A handle 52, which may be of the same general type as that shown in Figs. 7 and 8, has its bifurcated barbed ends engaged in pairs of looking slots 53 provided near the upper edges of side walls 42, and is collapsible down upon the container top in the manner already described.

It will be noted that in the carrier illustrated in Figs. 9-11 the peripheral edge at each open end is in one plane instead of being recessed on the sides as in the type of carrier first described. This has the effect of somewhat stiffening the constricted peripheral zones at the open ends; although in this type of carrier also it is entirely feasible to cut away the end margins of the sides for greater exposure of the end bottles.

In both types of carriers shown in the drawings, the width of the lateral base openings (22 or 50) on the side adjacent the bottom section should desirably be at least about two-fifths of the bottle base diameter, in order to get the best effect in gripping or looking the bottle rims so as to hold the bottle against accidental dislodgment. In practice, the proportion may well be increased to as much as one-half or even a somewhat larger proportion of the bottle diameter. Their vertical extent upwardly along the side sections of the carrier may vary, but for best results should be suflicient to permit a substantial area of the bottle surface above the rim to extend into the aperture and be engaged by the edges thereof. This, in conjunction with the use of a bottom section width less than one bottle diameter, or two bottle diameters as the case may be, in addition to properly correlating therewith and with each other the size of the bottle neck receiving openings and the over-all height of the container as herein disclosed, causes the container to snugly conform to and confine the bottle group on all four contacted faces thereof. Thereby, whether the bottles of the group be in one row or two rows, and whatever may be the position of the package, the bottles are effectively wedged or forced into locking engagement with the lateral base apertures and positively maintained so en'- gaged. Hence the bottles will not be released by any jar or bump to which packages of this kind are subjected in even rather rough and careless handling. The packages herein disclosed can be picked up and carried by the neck of any one of the contained bottles, if desired, without danger of any of the bottles falling out. They can even be held up by one end margin of the carrier, with the longitudinal axis of the carrier vertical, and can also be shaken considerably in this position, without any bottle dropping out.

When the package is lifted or held suspended by the handle, as it is when, for example, it is being carried from the store by the consumer, it is particularly difficult for the bottles to be dislodged and fall out of the carrier; indeed when the package is so suspended, it is rather difficult to remove then intentionally as by grasping the necks and twisting them out in the manner hereinabove described. This is because the upward pull of the carrying handle on the side walls causes the latter to hug the sides of the bottle group even more closely, and thereby to increase the gripping or locking action of the base apertures on the adjacent bottle rims. On the other hand, when the package is set down on a table, for example, as is naturally done when it is desired to remove one or more bottles, this gripping action of the carirer sides on the bottles, although still effective to prevent their accidental dislodgment in any position of the package, is lessened to such an extent that the bottles can then be removed comparatively easily by grasping the bottle necks and giving the bottles the tilting or twisting movement before described.

It is possible, of course, to pack the bottles in the container or carrier so tightly that it becomes very diflicult to get them out without rupturing the container at one or another of the constricted peripheral zones. This is not to be recommended where it is desired that the carrier shall be used for return of empty bottles, but otherwise there is no objection to so doing, and such practice is to be understood as within the scope of the broad invention.

It is also to be noted that by having the carrier fit rather more snugly about the bottle group in the first instance than is necessary or perhaps desirable, and then letting the resultant package stand undisturbed for a suflicient time, it is possible, instead of providing lateral base apertures in the carrier blank as supplied, to stretch the sheet material at the localities where it is tightly tensioned against the bottle surfaces, especially at the base edges or rims thereof, thereby producing indentations or recesses in the side walls which, because of the permanent set which may thus be given to the sheet material, remain permanently and provide effectively a locking or gripping action on the bottle rims similar to that which is produced by the gripping

apertures

22 or 50 in the specific forms of carrier illustrated in the drawings. Also, after a sumcient time has elapsed, the tensioning of the carrier as a whole about the bottle group diminishes because of the resultant slight permanent peripheral or circumferential elongation of the carrier, so that the final fit of the carrier about the group, while still snug, is such that the bottles can be tilted is within the scope of the invention.

The amount by which the width of the bottom section of the carrier between the defining score linesmay desirably be less than one bottle diameter in the single-row carrier, or less than twice the bottle diameter in the two-row carrier, is variable in practice. In the two-row carrier, it is found that a differential of from about three-fourths to one inch is usually desirable; while in the single row type, this differential may usually range approximately from three-sixteenths to three-fourths of an inch, for example. The amount of this differential naturally depends somewhat upon the size of the bottles, usually increasing with the bottle diameter.

Due to the aforesaid correlation of the various structural features of the novel carrier, the package resulting from loading the carrier with the particular size and type of bottle for which the carrier is in each instance designed is characterized by great compactness and relative rigidity, and by even distribution of strains both in regard to the carrier itself and to the pressure it exerts on the enclosed or encircled bottle group, as well as the pressure within said group at the very few points where they are required to contact or exert pressure one against another. The bottles being substantially incapable of relative movement within the carrier, breakage from this cause, so characteristic of many bottle carriers heretofore proposed, is virtually eliminated. Furthermore, for the same reason, the package is practically noiseless in handling because of the substantial absence of any clink or ping of bottles hitting one another. Moreover, the compactness and rigidity of the package structure, and the uniformity of strain distribution characterizing it, which render the package a relatively non-deformable unit although the tensioned container material itself is so thin and flexible, make possible very marked economy in the amount of board required in manufacturing the container or carrier, not only in respect to area of board but also weight of board. The extreme simplicity of the carrier blank, which in general form is a rectangular strip of length suflicient only to fit peripherally, as a continuous tube, about the bottle group at substantially shoulder height, reduces to a minimum the area of board required. But in addition, it becomes possible to use board of thinner gauge than can be used for prior proposed carriers designed for equal loads. Thus, the novel carrier renders it feasible to economize substantially in material,

in both these ways. The saving thus efiected in board area alone is frequently as much as 40 to 50 per cent or more.

From what has been said herelnabove, it is apparent that; by reason of the compactness and pronounced rigidity of the novel structure of the package as a whole, that is, of the bottle group in combination with the snugly conforming and confining continuous (in effect endless) thin flexible carrier strip or band'tensioned about the group in the manner described, any incipient movement of a bottle out of its normal position relative to the other components of the package instantly sets up greatly increased tension over the entire length of said strip, with consequent development of bursting stress reactions which, since they are distributed throughout the package, are therefore not excessive at any point and yet are integrated cooperatively into a considerable total effective force acting directly upon said bottle to resist and restrain such movement from continuing; and that said resistance increases at an extremely rapid rate with any tendency of such bottle movement to continue beyond the point of incipiency. It is believed that this principle of construction has never before been utilized in the bottle carrier art, and it leads to important desirable results not attainable heretofore. Thus, by properly proportioning and correlating the carrier tube and its aperturing relative, in each instance, to the given group of bottles having a particular standard or selected uniform shape and size in accordance with the principles of the invention herein set forth, paperboard of given gauge and strength test characteristics have been utilized far more efficiently than heretofore, and the use of paperboard of much thinner gauge than could previously be employed at all for bottle carriers is rendered entirely practicable, whereby savings in carrier material of the order of magnitudehereinabove indicated are often realizable in actual practice, not to mention other obvious advantagesinherent in this novel type of bottle carrier construction.

While reference has been made hereinabove more particularly to hand packing, the novel carrier adapts itself admirably to machine packing nd, in fact, is believed to be the first bottle carr.. 1' known in the art which is practical to pack by machine. In using the present carrier for machine packing, the carrier blank is folded about the bottle group instead of being first'set up into a finished container and the bottles then loaded thereinto as hereinabove described. This method of packing forming no part of the present invention, it is not further described herein.

The term paperboard or board is employed herein in a generic sense to include the various well-known commercial products known as paperboard, boxboard, cardboard, pulp board, kraft, etc., with Or without waterproofing or other special treatment. Any of these materials, provided it be of relatively light gauge and flexible enough to permit of its being tensioned circumferentially about four faces of an article group so as to conform snugly to all said faces as herein disclosed, is suitable to employ in practicing the invention.

As a further guide to the practice-of the invention, specific data for constructing two specific embodiments thereof, corresponding to the two types illustrated in the drawings and described in some detail hereinabove, will now be given.

Example 1 The container is to carry three bottles of 29 fluid ounce capacity in a single row, and is to be made from a blank like that illustrated in Fig- 5, using kraft board of 0.032 inch gauge. The bottles and contents weigh a. few ounces less than 12 pounds. The over-all height of the capped botties is substantially 12 inches, and the diameter (rim and body) is 3 /2 inches.

The top l8 (peripheral distance between bend lines l1 and I9) is 6 inches wide, with the central portion thereof between bend lines 20 measuring 2 /2 inches. The bottom section I2 is also 2% inches wide, while each of the connecting side wall sections and Iii measures 6% inches between the respective pairs of bend lines I4-I'I and l3-l9.

The center lines of the three sets of apertures, each set consisting of a top or neck-receiving aperture 2| and two lateral base apertures 22. of generally triangular'iorm, are spaced apart 3% inches. The circular top apertures have a diameter of 1% inch. Each aperture 22 is 1 /2 inch wide at its base 23 and has an altitude of substantially 2 inches."

The height of the set-up and loaded carrier, measured from the bottom I! to the crest of the top, is about 8% inches. At the bottom and crest, the carrier has a length of inches measured parallel to the bottle row, while at the side walls it measures 9 inches.

The handle, made of the same material as the carrier, may have an over-all length of 17% inches, with the central hand-grip portion measuring 5% inches between bend lines 34. The barbed locking members 28 are each inch wide, spaced apart 6 inch by slot 3|; the overall width across the four barbs at the two heads being 2% inches. The cooperating locking slots 30 in the carrier side walls each have a width of inch at the base and extend i% inch perpendicular thereto; each pair being spaced apart inch.

The combined weight of the carrier and handle is approximately 2 /2 ounces.

Example 2 This container is to carry six 12-ounce bottles in two rows of three each, and is to be made from a blank like that illustrated in Fig. 11, using kraft board of 0.040 inch gauge. The bottles and contents weigh approximately 10% pounds. The over-all height of the capped bottles is substantially 9 inches, and the bottle diameter is 2 /2 inches.

The top 40, measured between bend lines II on the flat blank, is 6% inches wide, the portion between bend lines 49 being 4 inches wide. Each side wall 42 is 5% inches measured between adjacent bend lines 4| and 43, while the bottom section, measured between bend lines 43 in the set-up container is 4% inches wide.

The center lines of the three sets of

apertures

41, 50, which respectively engage the three transverse pairs of bottles, are spaced apart 21%; inches; and the width of the crest section 40a, by which the necks of the two longitudinal rows of bottles are held apart is 1 ,4; inches, this sufflcing to leave a slight space between the shoulders of the bottles between the two rows.

At its circular end, each neck-receiving aperture 41 has a diameter of 1 /2 inch parallel to the carrier length. These apertures extend toward the wide walls a distance of 2 /2 inches, except in the case of the center openings which are /4 inch shorter in order to avoid having too narrow a section of material between their ends and the adjacent locking slots 53 in the side walls.

The height of the set-up and loaded carrie measured from the bottom to the crest 40a is about 7 /8 inches, and the, carrier has a uniform length of 8 inches.

The handle may be of the same type as in Example 1, but can be somewhat shorter because of the smaller height of the bottles. The weight of the carrier and handle together approximates 2% ounces.

The principles of the invention are of course applicable to the packaging of all containers which, whether or not they are custbmarily called bottles, resemble bottles in having a generally cylindrical or columnar body portion and in decreasing in diameter toward one end to provide a more or less tapering neck portion; and the term "bottle is to be understood as used herein with correspondingly broad significance. Cap-sealed cans, for example, are to be understood as within the scope of the term as used in this broad sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A bottle carrier adapted to hold a plurality of cylindrical bottles of predetermined uniform size and shape with upwardly tapering neck portions, which comprises a strip of relatively thin flexible sheet material suitably bent and having its ends overlapped and joined to form an openended tubular container with a top section and a bottom section, both longitudinally continuous and connected together by two opposed upright side walls, said top section being provided adjacent substantially the topmost part thereof with apertures in substantially rectilinear arrangement and large enough to permit the tapered neck portions of a group of bottles placed in the carrier to project a substantial distance upwardly therebeyond, with said topmost part extending transversely between the lower portions of the bottle necks and substantially perpendicular to the bottle axes, said side walls having provision adjacent their respective junctions with 'said bottom section for gripping engagement with the base edges or rims of such bottles; the size of said apertures in the top section being so correlated with the peripheral distance between them and the respective aforesaid junctions and said sheet material being of such thinness and flexibility that, when bottles of the predetermined size and shape for which the carrier is designed are contained therein, such gripping engagement of the bottle rims is compelled by the snugness with which the carrier conforms circumferentially to the top, bottom and two opposed sides of the bottle group, whereby the resultant package constitutes as a whole a relatively non-deformable unit of substantial rigidity.

2. A bottle carrier adapted to hold a plurality of cylindrical bottles of predetermined uniform size and shape with upwardly tapering neck portions, which comprises a strip of relatively thin flexible sheet material suitably bent and having its ends overlapped and joined to form an openended tubular container with a top section and a bottom section, both longitudinally continuous and connected together by two opposed upright side walls, said top section being provided adjacent substantially the topmost part thereof with apertures in substantially rectilinear arrangement and large enough to permit the tapered neck portions of a group of bottles placed in the carrier to project a substantial distance upwardly therebey'ond, with said topmost part extending transversely between the lower portions of the bottle necks and substantially perpendicular to the bottle axes, said side walls being apertured adjacent their respective junctions with said bottom section for gripping engagement with the base edges or rims of such bottles, such base apertures each having an effective rimgripping width equal to at least two-fifths oi the given bottle diameter; the size of said apertures in the top section being so correlated with the peripheral distance between them and the re- 15 spective aforesaid junctions and said sheet material being of such thinness and flexibility that, when bottles of the predetermined size and shape for which the carrier is designed are contained therein, the edges of such base apertures engage the respective bottle rims and resist movement of the bottles toward either end of the carrier, such engagement being compelled by the snugness with which the carrier conforms circumferentially to the top, bottom and two opposed sides of the bottle group, whereby the resultant package constitutes as a whole a relatively non-deformable unit of substantial rigidity.

3. A bottle carrier as set forth in claim 2 wherein said top section has a single row of neckreceiving apertures, and the width of said bottom section is less than the bottle diameter.

4. A bottle carrier as set forth in claim 2, wherein said top section has two rows of neckreceiving apertures in rectangular arrangement, and the width of said bottom section is less than twice the bottle diameter.

5. A bottle carrier as set forth in claim 2, wherein said top section has two rows of neckreceiving apertures in rectangular arrangement, and the width of said bottom section is less than twice the bottle diameter, said, neck-receiving apertures and said base apertures being spaced apart between centers, in their respective longitudinal rows, a distance slightly exceeding one bottle diameter.

6. A bottle carrier as set forth in claim 2, wherein said top section has two rows of neckreceiving apertures in rectangular arrangement, and the width of said bottom section is less than twice the bottle diameter, said neck-receiving apertures and said base apertures being spaced apart between centers, in their respective longitudinal rows, a distance slightly exceeding one bottle diameter, and said rows of neck-receiving apertures being spaced apart between centers a distance slightly exceeding one bottle diameter.

7. A bottle carrier adapted to hold a plurality of cylindrical articles of predetermined uniform size 16 and shape with upwardly tapering neck portions, which comprises a strip of flexible sheet material having its ends joined to form an open-ended tubular container comprising a top section and a bottom section connected together by two opposed uprlght side walls, said top section being provided with apertures adapted to permit the tapered neck portions of articles placed in the carrier to project upwardly therebeyond, at least some of said apertures having their margins weakened to facilitate loading said articles into the container through its open ends, the crosssectional dimensioning of said tubular container and the dimensioning of the apertures in said top section being so correlated with each other and with the predetermined dimensions and shape of the article group which the carrier is intended to hold that loading said articles into position within the carrier through its open ends places said strip of sheet material under substantial bursting stress compelling it to conform snugly to those faces of said article group about which it extends circumferentially.

ERNEST M. BROGDEN. RONALD R. BROGDEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

France July 22, 1911