Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D71/00—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material
  • B65D71/70—Trays provided with projections or recesses in order to assemble multiple articles, e.g. intermediate elements for stacking
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D71/00—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material
  • B65D71/50—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material comprising a plurality of articles held together only partially by packaging elements formed otherwise than by folding a blank

Definitions

• TITLE Tray for use in transportation and vending of containers
• the present invention relates to a tray for use in trans ⁇ portation and vending of containers such as tubes, bottles or cans.
• Tubes of various types and with various contents have traditionally been packed in small, individual packages which are intended to contain just the tube itself.
• a classic example of this is toothpaste tubes.
• the tubes can be lengthways stacked on top of each other on the shop shelves.
• the packages are also printed with advertising text, trademarks, etc.
• Tubes can also be distributed without individual packages, e.g. in various types of multipacks.
• a typical example of such a multipack is a simple tray made from stiff cardboard on which the tubes stand vertically on their caps. Even these trays are intended to be placed on shop shelves and are often delivered to the shops by covering the tray and tubes with a shrink film which is normally removed at the shop when the tubes are to be sold.
• a further development of this basic tray is provided with a flat upper region with holes for the screw caps of the tubes. In this manner the tubes are better located on the tray than with a completely open tray.
• tubes for instance toothpaste tubes
• this superfluous package is in virtually all cases removed by the consumer before the product is used. This merely adds to the already grave problem of rubbish disposal.
• the continued existence of such packages can be said to be a remnant from early goods handling days.
• the great majority of production machines for tube-filling are delivered with a packaging machine as the final work station on the production line.
• the packaging machine also implies unnecessary material and energy consumption, particularly when it is taken into consideration that both the tube and the package are provided with product advertising printing of various types.
• present display means soon convey a less attractive impression on the shelves when a few tubes, bottles or cans have been removed therefrom, since this removal is often conducted in a less than careful manner. The next consumer is thus given an impression of disarray on the shelves, with reduced sales as a consequence.
• a further object of the invention is that the tray is capable of retaining the goods in a safe and reliable manner.
• the present invention provides a tray for use in transportation and vending of containers such as tubes, bottles or cans, comprising gripping means for resilient engagement with a defined grip region on said containers for retaining the containers on the tray.
• the invention is particularly characterized in that the gripping means are made from an elastic material for resilient engagement with said defined grip region.
• the tray further presents suspending means intended for cooperation with pre ⁇ existing suspension rods.
• the tray is made from an elongated section element and said suspending means consist of longitudinally extending channels formed in the section element.
• the tray is furthermore advantageously formed such that adjacent opposed gripping means define at least one longitudinally extending slot adapted for row-wise insertion of the containers.
• the distance between the bottom surface of the longitudinally extending slot and the surface of the gripping means facing the bottom surface is advantageously adapted to provide a retaining force between the tray and the containers.
• a preferred embodiment of. the invention is adapted to accommodate tubes which have a tube body, a tube cap and a recess therebetwen, wherein the grip region of the tube comprises the recess between the tube body and the tube cap.
• a further embodiment of the invention is adapted to accommodate bottles which have a circu ferentially extending shoulder at the top or bottom of the bottle, wherein the grip region of the bottle comprises said circumferentially extending shoulder.
• the invention is particularly characterized in that the grip region of the bottle comprises said circumferential, outwardly extending flange.
• Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a tray according to one embodiment of the invention
• Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the tray in Fig.l and in which tubes have been illustrated in a retained position;
• Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of a tray according to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 and provided with several containers;
• Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of another alternative embodiment of the invention, intended for retaining bottles having a circumferentially extending shoulder
• Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative tray according to the invention, intended for retaining bottles having a circumferential, outwardly extending flange.
• reference numeral 1 generally denotes a tray for transportation and vending of containers.
• the tray is primarily intended for retaining tubes
• the tray is made from an elongated section element 2 which is advantageously produced in an extrusion process.
• the tray 1 is preferably made out of a suitably elastic, resilient and recyclable plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropylene or polyvinylchloride (PVC) .
• PVC polyvinylchloride
• the tray which in its entirety is comprised of the section element 2, further includes gripping means 3 for engagement with a grip region 14 on the tube 11 for retaining the tubes in the tray 1.
• the gripping means 3 are integrally formed in the upper section element 2 and are arranged pairwise facing each other.
• each pair of opposing gripping means 3 defines a longitudinally extending slot 4 which is adapted for row-wise insertion of containers 10, in this case the tubes 11.
• the gripping means 3 are shaped for resilient engagement with the grip region 14 on the tubes 11, the grip region comprising the recess 16 between the tube body
• the gripping means 3 are made from an elastic, resilient material according to the above material choice, and secondly due to particular shaping of the section element 2.
• the distance between the bottom surface 6 of the longitudinally extending slot 4 and the surfaces 9 of the gripping means 3 facing the bottom surface 6 is adapted to provide a retaining force between the tray 1 and, in this case, the tube cap 13. In this manner a secure retention of the tubes in three dimensions is achieved.
• the tray is also provided with suspending means 5 for cooperation with pre-existing suspension rods 7 in shops.
• Said suspending means 5 are in the form of longitudinally extending channels 8 in the section element 2.
• the channels 8 can be shaped in different ways for cooperation with one or more suspension rods 7.
• the suspension rods 7 are schematically depicted by dashed lines.
• fig. 3 it is shown in perspective how a tray 1 with tubes 11 is suspended on two dashed suspension rods 7.
• These rods 7 a re normally affixed to vertical wall sections which are provided with a number of holes for receiving the attachment ends 16 of the rods.
• the wall sections are not shown in the drawings. In Figs.
• the tray 1 has been slid onto the rods 7 in au upward position, i.e. with the openings of the slots 4 facing upwards.
• the tray 1 can also be placed in a downwardly directed position, whereby the tubes 11 "hang" down from the tray 1.
• the tray can be formed such that the tubes 11 can stand in the slots 4 in rows at an angle, as shown in Fig. 3.
• the end seals 15 of the tubes 11 adopt an angle with respect to the end seals 15 of the tubes 11 in adjacent rows. This allows the tube bodies 12 to be placed nearer to each other in such a manner that the width of the tray 1 is minimized.
• the tray 1 with the tubes 11 can be covered with shrink film in a known manner.
• the tray 1 is also able to be placed on normal shelving should the shop not be equipped with suspension rods.
• An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig..4 in which the tray 1 is adapted to retain bottles 20 which have a circumferentially extending shoulder 21 formed at the top 23 or bottom 24 of the bottle 20.
• the gripping means 29 are hereby intended to engage the grip region 14 on the bottle 20, this grip region corresponding to the circumferential shoulder (21) .
• This embodiment too is provided with longitudinally extending channels 28 for cooperation with pre-existing suspension rods 7.
• FIG. 5 A further embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 5 in which the tray 1 is adapted to retain bottles 30 which have a circumferential, outwardly extending flange 31 formed at the top 33 or bottom 34 of the bottle 30.
• the gripping means 39 are hereby adapted to engage the grip region 14 on the bottle 30, this grip region corresponding to said circumferential, outwardly extending flange 31.
• the tray 1 is provided with longitudinally extending channels 38 for cooperation with pre-existing suspension rods 7.
• the invention offers a particularly space-saving alternative to present tube and bottle shelf displays.
• the need for additional cardboard packaging around the tubes is also eliminated since the tubes no longer have to be laboriously stacked on the shelves.
• the tray 1 can include a greater number of parallel rows 4 than shown in the drawings.
• the invention can of course also be suitable for retaining other types of bottles, cans or tubes which have not been described above, provided that these also present a definable grip region 14.
• the tray 1 can be made from a material not mentioned in the description, but which possesses similar properties. It is to be noted that the tray 1 does not have to be made as an extruded section element 2, and instead it could also be constructed from a plurality of components. This would, however, increase production costs.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Details Of Rigid Or Semi-Rigid Containers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20383359

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (5)

Citations (3)

• 1991
  • 1991-07-22 SE SE9102213A patent/SE468849B/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1992
  • 1992-06-15 WO PCT/SE1992/000420 patent/WO1993001989A1/en unknown

Patent Citations (3)

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