US2675158A

US2675158A - Reinforced partitioned carrier

Info

Publication number: US2675158A
Application number: US145634A
Authority: US
Inventors: William A Ringler
Original assignee: Gardner Board and Carton Co
Current assignee: Gardner Board and Carton Co
Priority date: 1950-02-23
Filing date: 1950-02-23
Publication date: 1954-04-13
Anticipated expiration: 1971-04-13

Description

April 13, 1954 w RINGLER 2,675,158

REINFORCED PARTITIONED CARRIER Filed Feb. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l I 25! 27 3 Z4 I I N V EN TOR. hf; 4 MM 4 ENG-1. 51

BY Y

ATTORlN EYS.

April 1954 w. A. RINGLER REINFORCED PARTITIONED CARRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Mu /.4M 4. 171

@lllwv M Filed Feb. 23, 1950 ATTORN E YS- Patented Apr. 13, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REINFORCED PARTITIONED CARRIER William A. Ringler, Wayne, Pa., assignor to The Gardner Board and Carton 00., Middletown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 23, 1950, Serial No. 145,634

My invention pertains to paperboard carriers, finding a. particular field of utility in the merchandising and transportation of assemblies of bottles, but useful for other purposes as well.

An object of my inventionis the provision of an improved, fully partitioned paperboard carrier.

Another object of the invention isthe provision of a fully partitionedcarrier adapted for filling on automatic machines, especially under circumstances where a plurality of carriers are as sembled in a bottle crate and are there filled, under which circumstances the carrier must present no parts which, either in normal position, or in displaced position, will interfere with the filling operation.

As a consequence, it is an object of my inven tion to provide a carrier which, when in erected condition, is exceptionally rigid and not liable to displacement of its parts.

It is an object of my invention to provide a carrier which is exceptionally sturdy and strong, and when made of suitably durable and moistureresistant paperboard, is capable of making many carrying trips, and has a long service life.

It is an object of my invention to provide a carrier which is reinforced and braced at all points of possible failure, especially as hereinafter more specifically set forth.

It is an object of my invention to provide a carrier having a multi-thickness reinforced top rail for purposes hereinafter described.

It is an object of my invention to provide a novel and improved mode of manufacture of carriers having the advantages noted.

These and other objects of the invention, which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in theart upon reading these specifications, I accomplish in that structure and by that mode of operation of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment. Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the paperboard blank for the exemplary form of my carrier.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are respectively plan views of the blank showing various stages in the folding and gluing thereof.

Figure 5 is a perspective View of my structure showing a, subsequent step.

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view of the carrier taken along the line $.6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a perspective viewof thecarrier structure after yet another forming step.

9 Claims. (01. 22 9-28) Figurell is ahorizontal sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a partial perspective view showing a final assembly operation.

Figure 10 is an elevational view with parts in section showing the completed carrier in erected condition.

Figure 11 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line i I-l I of Fig. 10. t

Figure 12 is an end elevational view of my carrier in erected condition.

Referring first to Figure 1, I have there shown a paperboard blank for my carrier. The blank may be formed, as will readily be understood by those skilled in the art, from paperboard of suitable characteristics by cutting and scoring, as on a conventional cutting and scoring press. The paperboard may be printed as desired, and it is a particular advantage of my construction that all externally exposed board portions in the erected carrier, including the cross bar hereinafter described and adjacent parts of the central longitudinal partition element, are formed from the same sideof the paperboard material, and therefore may be printed or decorated inexpensively in one operation. It will be noted that the paperboard blank of Figure 1 is substantially rectangular in general outline, and can be cut from a larger sheet or supply of board with very little wastage.

The blank is so cut and scored as to provide a side wall element l, a bottom element 2, and a side wall element 3, articulated together in the order named. In the various plan views in the drawings, solid lines represent lines of cut, dotdash lines represent lines of score, and dashed lines represent lines of weakening. The bottom panel 2 is provided with a median score line 4 for the collapsing of the bottom panel in the erected carrier. To each of the end edges of the side wall elements l and 3, I articulate end wall elements 5, .l, 9 and [2. Each of these elements has a. width substantially equal to the width of half of the bottom element 2. The lines of out defining what will be the upper edges of the end wall elements are preferably slantwise disposed, as indicated at l3, l4, l5 and It, so as to provide bracing elements for a longitudinal central partition structure as hereinafter set forth.

Lateral partition forming structures are articulated to the upper edges of each of the side wall elements I and 3. Thus, in direct articulation with the side wall I, there is a structurecomprising an attachment panel IT, to the side edges of which partition forming elements It and I9 are articulated; and these in turn

bear attachment flaps

26 and 2! which, in the final structure, will be adhesively secured to the longitudinal central partition element. The score lines between elements i3 and 23, and between elements [5 and with

tongues

26 and 33, as hereinabove described.

The depth of the partition structures just described is preferably the same as the depth of the side wall elements I and 3, or very nearly so, so that the lateral partitions will extend to or nearly to the bottom of the erected container;

but this does not form a necessary limitation upon my invention, and variationfis permissible and, indeed, desirable, in view of variations in the height of the bottles or other articles to be carried in the carrier, as hereinafter more fully explained.

The over-all depth of the blank is greater than the combined depths of the partition structures, side wall elements and bottom element, as shown,

leaving at the top and bottom of the blank narrow strips of the paper board material indicated at SI and 32. The dimensions of the structure are preferably so chosen that the combined depth of the side Wall, partition structure and strip element is not greater than the height of articles to be placed in'the carrier to permit the stacking of loaded carriers one upon another where this is desired; otherwise the combined depth may be chosen to position the cross bar, hereinafter referred to above or below the tops of the articles. 1

Glue flaps

33 and 34 are articulated to the side edges of the

end elements

5 and 1 and to the end edges of the narrow strip 3| at one end of the blank, and in a similar fashion, glue fiaps and 36 are articulated to the outer edges of the end wall elements 9 and I2 and the outer edges of the narrow strip 32 at the other end of the blank. It will be noted that the combined length of the attachment portions I'Ior 24, the

lateral partition panels [6, H) or 25, 26 and the if articulated

attachment flaps

20, 2! or 21, 2-8, is less than the combined length of the side wall elements and their articulated end wall elements, so that the narrow strips 3| and 32 have angularly extending end portions," indicated at am and 31b, and 32a and 32b respectively. The cuts, l3, l4, l5 and 16 which define the upper edges of the end wall elements, are carried, as shown, to the score lines by "which the glue flaps 313, 34, 35 and 36 are articulated to the end walls and to the lower strips.

An articulated flap 3! is formed on one of the narrow strips 3| or 32, and it will be seen that this flap is approximately half only of the length of the narrow strip upon which it is formed. Substantially centrally of the narrow strips 3| and 32, I provide lines of weakening 38 and 39, as may be done with a notched rule in the cutting and scoring die. Along the median score line in the bottom panel 2, I may form short slits 40 and 4|, slightly cross out at their ends to prevent tearing; and in the

glue flaps

33, 34, 35 and 36, I form notches adjacent their :lines of articulation, so as to provide tabs 42, 43, 4-1,

and coacting with the slits as hereinafter described.

The folding and gluing of the blank hereinabove described is best accomplished on a rightangle folding and gluing machine as known in the art. It may, however, be otherwise accomplished. The present invention is not limited to the use of any particular mechanical agencies for the performance of the method steps hereinafter described. Indeed, the method steps, as such, may be performed by hand; but it will be understood that mechanization greatly reduces the cost of the operation. In the exemplary operation on a right-angle gluer, with the blank traveling in the direction of the arrow 46 in Figure 1., suitable adhesive is spotted on the blankas shown in shaped areas in the figure. The attachment portions [1 and 24 of the lateral partition structures are substantially covered with adhesive, as shown at Ila and 24a, while

adhesive areas

41, 48, 49, 50, 5|, 52, 53 and 54 are formed on the glue flaps 33, 34, 35 and 36. The shape and disposition of the areas '48, 56, 5| and 53 is such as will correspond with the ends of the attachment flaps 20, 2i, 21 and 28 on the lateral partition structures when these are folded over, as herein after described, and the glue flaps 33, 34, 35 and 36 are folded inwardly; while the areas 41, 49, 52 and 54 corre spond to end portions 31a, 3Ib, 32a, and 32b of the narrow strips'3l and 32, which will be lapped by the glue flaps 33, 34, 35 and 36 when these are folded over.

With adhesive spotted on the blank as shown in Figure 1 and hereinabove described, the lateral partition structures are folded inwardly. This may be accomplished in any way desired, but is usually done by striking the partition structures upwardly either by machine elements or by blasts of air sufficiently to enable them to be properly engaged by stationary or moving folding elements. The adhesive areas Ila and 241 act to effect the adhesive attachment of the

elements

11 and 24 to the respective side walls I and 3. This disposition of the lateral partition structures is illustrated in Figure 2.

With the blank still traveling in the direction of the arrow 46, the next operation will be an inlolding of the glue flaps 33, 34, 35 and 36, as illustrated in Figure 3. This results in the attachment of an end portion of the element 20 to the glue flap 33, of an endportion of the element 2| to the glue flap 34, of an end portion of the element 21 to the glue flap 35, and of an end portion of the element '28 to the glue flap 36. Also, the end portions 31a, 3|b, 32a and 32b of the narrow strips 3! and 32 become adhesively attached to overlapping portions of the lue flaps 33, 34, 35 and 36 respectively.

The partially folded and glued blank now is transferred from the first section of the machine to the angularly related second section thereof through the use of the conventional transfer mechanism, and moves through the second section of the machine in the direction of the arrow 55 in Figure 3. Adhesive is applied to the folded-over glue flaps, or a pair of them, such as 35 and 36, to the adjacent narrow strip 32 (excepting for a small central portion thereof, 56) and to the adjacent lateral partition attachment flaps, such as 2'! and 28, together with their

tabs

29 and 30, as indicated by shaded areas in Figure 3. The machine next folds the blank along the median score line of the bottom panel 2, bringing the aforementioned glue flaps, narrow strip, at-

tachment flaps and tabs into overlying juxtaposition with the corresponding elementsof the other half of the blank. The blank now appears as in Figure 4, and is in completely folded and glued condition, although not completely formed. It requires certain other operations for its complete formation, as will now be described; but if desired, the folded and glued structure may be shipped to the user in the form illustrated in Figure 4.

In this form the narrow strips 3| and 32are glued to each other, excepting over the area 55, and form a sort of bar extending across the upper part of the structure. This bar is now separated substantially centrally by breaking the narrow strips 3! and 32 along their lines of weakening 38 and 39, as illustrated in Figure 5. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the disposition of interior parts in the structure of Figures 4 and 5, the carrier being partially erected for the sake of clarity. The side wall portions l and 3 lie opposite each other; the bottom panel 2 has its halves folded with respect to each other along the median score line, while the

end wall elements

5 and 9 and l and i2 are angularly related to each other in pairs extending outwardly from the ends of the side walls. The lateral partition elements l8, I9, and 26 parallel the end wall elements, as shown. One end of each of the lateral partition elements is attached through the medium of the attachment portions I! or 24 to one of the side walls respectively, while the lateral partition attachment flaps 2U, 21, and 2!, 28, are at tached to each other and to the end wall glue flaps 33, 34, 35 and 36, making up a central partition structure (inclusive of the

tabs

22, 29, and 23, 30 which are attached to each other in pairs) which lies in two longitudinally spaced portions designated as A and B in Figure 6.

Having produced the structure having the disposition of parts shown in Figure 6, and having severed the bar portions of the structure substantially centrally as shown in Figure 5, the next step in the complete formation of my carrier is to push inwardly upon one of the pairs of end wall elements, as indicated by the arrow 51 in Figure 6. This produces a new disposition of parts, such as is illustrated in section in Figure 8, where a similar numbering of the elements will enable them to be identified. In perspective the structure now appears as shown in Figure 7, and it will be noted that the severed portions of the bar formed by the adhesive union of the narrow strips 3! and 32 have been brought into face-to-face juxtaposition, forming a new bar which is only half as long as the bar illustrated in the structure of Figure 4, thus providing a collapsed structure which may be erected into the rectangular form illustrated in Figure 11. The final operation in the formation of the paperboard carrier involves the folding of the flap element 3! over on the juxtaposed portions of the strips 3'! and 32, and the fastening of the flap in place, as by adhesive, or by the use of staples 58 or other fastening means. This provides a top bar for my structure which, throughout its central portion, is of the thickness of five layers of the paperboard, and hence is very heavy and rigid. At the ends the effective thickness is increased by the addition of the

glueflaps

33, 34, 35 and 36, giving a structure of extraordinary rigidity. It will be noted that the two parts of the central longitudinal partition structure, A and B, have been brought together, as in Figure 8; and this relationship is maintained by the bar structure, as will be evident. structures of the central partition structure have The vertically rising a quadruple thickness above the end walls, and a'double thickness below the tops of the end walls, and hence are very rigid; while the triangular upwardly extending portions of the end wall elements demarked by the slanting lines of cut [3, M, l5 and 16, as hereinabove described, vertically brace the longitudinal partition and cross bar structure.

The height of the central partition and cross bar structure can be any desired. As already indicated, if the over-all height is made less than. the height of the bottles or other articles to be carried in the carrier, then my erected and filled carriers may be stacked directly one upon the other. In this event, it becomes less advantageous to employ the cross bar as a carrying member to be engaged by the fingers, and I prefer to provide a wire handle element, as illustrated in Figures 10 and 12. This element (which may take various forms within the scope of the present invention), preferably takes a form more particularly illustrated and described in my copending application entitled Handle Structure for Carriers, Serial No. 142,130 filed February 3, 1950, now abandoned in favor of a. continuation in part application entitled Handle Structure for Carrier, Serial No. 167,808, filed June 12, 1950, and is so illustrated herein. The preferred form of handle is a wire element, bent to provide a bail 59, at the ends of which there are depending legs Ell and 6!. End portions of these legs are reversely bent to form hooks, and the ends of the legs as Well as the reversely bent portions are preferably deflected laterally, as at 62 and 63, outwardly beyond the axes of the legs and El. This provides a structure in which the deflected portions of the handle element can engage and slide with respect to the inward lateral edges of the side members of the central longitudinal partition, namely, the juxtaposed and adhesively joined pairs of glue flaps 33, 35 and 34, 36. The handle can thus slide up and down in the structure, and therefore will not interfere with stacking. The handle is fixed as to its uppermost position by an engagement of the reversely bent end portions with the thick bar at the top of the carrier, which has hereinabove been described.

I am not restricted to this form of handle since other forms of handle will serve for carrying purposes, and in particular, any handle having means for engaging the bar of my carrier.

With the preferred handle element, when the reversely bent portions at the ends of the legs 61? and B! are oppositely directed, the bail portion 59 of the handle element must cross the bar of the carrier. Thus the handle is limited as to its possible downward motion, and in particular, cannot accidentally be dislodged from the carrier. Moreover, the handle element will be so engaged with the central partition structure of the carrier that'the handle, in any position, cannot tilt to any great extent with reference thereto, so that the handle will not interfere with automatic filling operations for the carriers, to which reference has been made above.

That the carrier in its final form is collapsible, will be evident from Figures '7 and 8. When the carrier is erected as in Figures 10 and 11, an erected form of the carrier may be maintained, even though the carrier be empty, by initially engaging the juxtaposed

tab elements

42, 44 and 43, 45 in the bottom slits 40 and 4|, as is illustrated in Figure 10. This is useful in positioning the erected carriers in crates for filling by automatic machines. After the filled bottles have and 11.

be'eniintroduced'into the carriers, this engage- .ment may be broken; but the filled, bottles will then themselves maintain the carrier in the noncoilapsed' condition.

The juxtaposed and adhesively secured pairs of

tabs

22, 29 and 23, 3%, complete the central longitudinal partition across the central pair of cell spaces, as will be evident from Figures These tabs also have another function. They form cut-outs in the lateral partition elements i8, i9, and 26, as will be evident. There is considerable strain on the lateral partition elements or partitioned carriers, occasioned by outward strains exerted upon the side wall elements. if attachment flaps on the lateral partition elements were merely adhesively secured together or to other elements making up a lion-- gitudinal central partition, these strains would tend to peel the attachment flaps away. When the

tabs

22, 23, 28 and 5d are formed as shown, however. and are adhesively secured together or to other longitudinal partition forming elements, the construction is such that the lateral partition elements i8, i9, .25 and 2 cannot peel away from the central longitudinal partition without a tearing of the board. This very greatly increases the strength of the structure in resisting outward pulls on the side walls.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit of it. Having thus described my invention in an exemplary embodiment, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a paperboard bottle carrier, a unitary paperboard structure cut and scored to provide a bottom, side and end walls, a longitudinal central partition structure between the side walls, lateral partition elements connecting the side walls and said partition structure, end portions of said central partition structure extending upwardly beyond the tops of said side walls, and a plural-ply bar portion interconnecting the upstanding ends of said longitudinal partition structure, said plural-ply bar portion comprising horizontally disposed narrow strips extending inwardly from opposite ends of the carrier, there being a pair oi such strips at each end of the carrier, the strips in each pair lying in side-by-side contacting .relation, the pairs of strips being of lengths to overlap'one another in the erected carrier and lying in side-by-side contacting relation and secured together to form said plural-ply bar portion, said lateral partition elements including attachment naps forming part of said longitudinal partition structure, said attachment flaps having integral tongues cut from'said lateral partition elements and also forming part of the longitudinal partition structure, the attachment flaps and tongues of opposite ones or said lateral partition elements being secured together, whereby said lateral partition elements can be separated from the iongitudinal partition structure only by a tearing action.

l 2. The bottle carrier claimed in claim 1 including tongues formed on the bottom of said longitudinal partition structure and slits in the bottom of said carrier engageable with said tongues to maintain an erected condition of said carrier.

3. The bottle carrier claimed in claim 2 wherein said lateral partition elements are articulated to attachment members which in turn are articulated to the upper edges of said side walls, and lie "tion having a glue flap, and in which the glue flap of adjacent end wall sections are inturned and adhesively secured together forming the upstanding portions of the longitudinal partition structure, the remainder of the central longitudinal partition being formed by the said attachment flaps and tongues of the lateral partition elements.

5. A paperboard bottle carrier comprising a bottom, side and end walls, a central longitudinal partition structure lying between the side walls and extending parallel thereto, lateral partition elements connecting the side walls and said central partition structure, end portions of said central partition structure extending upwardly beyond the tops of said side walls, and a plural-ply bar portion interconnecting the upstanding ends of said longitudinal partition structure, said plural-ply bar portion consisting of narrow strips extending inwardly from opposite ends of the carrier, there bein a pair of strips at each end of the carrier, with the strips in each pair lying in side-by-side contacting relation, said pairs of strips being of lengths to overlap each other and lying in side-by-side overlapping relation to form said plural-ply bar portion, a flap element hingedly connected to an outermost one of said strips, said flap element having a width substantially equal to the width of said strips and lying in folded condition bridging the tops of the remainder of said strips, said flap being fastened in faceto-face contact with the outermost strip on the opposite side of said plural-ply bar porfiguration, and comprising a side wall panel, a

bottom and a side wall panel articulated together in the order named, partial end wall panels articulated to the ends of said side wall panels, lateral partition structures articulated to the outer side edges of said side wall panels, strip elements lying outwardly beyond the said lateral partition structures and spaced from the outer edges of said side wall panels by at least the width of said lateral partition structures, and glue flaps articulated to and common to the outer edges of the partial end wall panelsand adjacent end edges of said strip elements, said strip elements extending continuously from the glue flaps at one end of the blank to the glue flaps at the opposite end of the blank'and connected to said respectiveglue iiaps, said strip elements each havin a linejforseverance extending therethrough from top to bottom intermediate the ends thereof/ 8. The paperboard blank claimed in claim 7 wherein one of said strip elements has a flap articulated to its outer side edge, said flaps lying wholly on one side of the line for severance in the strip to which it is articulated.

9. A paperboard blank for a bottle carrier, said blank having a substantially rectangular configuration and comprising a side wall panel, a bottom and a side wall panel articulated together in the order named, partial end wall panels articulated to the ends of said side wall panels, lateral partitionstructures articulated to the outer side edges of said side wall panels, strip elements lying outwardly beyond said lateral partition structures and spaced from the outer edges of said side Wall panels by at least the width of said lateral partition structures, glue flaps articulated to and common to the outer edges of said partial end wall panels and adjacent end edges of said strip elements, said strip elements having substantially centrally located lines for severance therein, one of said strip elements having a flap of substantially one half its length articulated to its outer side edge, each of said lateral partition structures comprising a central attachment portion, lateral partition elements articulated to the opposite side edges of said attachment portions, each bearing an attachment flap, the lines of articulation between said attachment flaps and said lateral partition elements being interrupted by U-shaped lines of cut extending into the said lateral partition elements to provide tabs integrally con nected to said attachment flaps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,163,290 Powell June 20, 1939 2,245,675 I-lultin June 17, 1941 2,418,350 Holy Apr. 1, 1947 2,458,281 Lupten Jan. 4, 1949 2,462,676 Riley Feb. 22, 1949 2,525,686 Kowal Oct. 10, 1950 2,537,452 Forrer Jan. 2, 1951 2,537,615 Arneson Jan. 9, 1951