SPECIFICATION
Packing case for bottles The present invention concerns a transport and stocking case for bottles of wine or similar beverages which is tranformable into an appartment cellar. It concerns more particularly an insert for holding bottles, which is placed inside the case and which permits the use of the case for transporting and also for access of the bottles.
Packings for transport and stocking are known which are transformable into bottle display units such as those which one can meet with in perfumery displays etc. These packings, generally made of cardboard, however cannot be directly utilised for transporting 75 cl bottles, the weight of which is considerable. Furthermore, bottle-racks are known which have the advantage of keeping the bottles horizontal but for obvious aesthetic reasons cannot be directly installed in dining rooms or even in kitchens, that is to say, where one must however have at hand at least a few recumbent and chilled bottles of wine.
One object of the present invention consists of providing a case and an insert which constitutes a transporting and stocking packing whilst permitting a transportation into a rack or appartment cellar.
According to one feature of the invention there is provided a case for holding several bottles in side by side disposition, characterised in that it has in one of its long lateral faces several openings and in that it contains an insert of moulded material in the form of several integral cradles arranged side by side, the insert having a line of lesser resistance permitting of separating it into two parts one of which has a length equal to the inner width of the case so that it can be placed in a crosswise position, the remaining parts of the cradles can support the bottles when passed into the openings in the said lateral face of the case, the necks of the bottles then projecting outside the case.
According to another feature, the parts of the cradles, in the transporting or stocking position, located under the necks are surmounted by blocks in which are provided wedging grooves for the bottle necks.
According to another feature, the insert has at its two ends crosswise to the direction of the cradles, plate portions limiting the longitudinal movement of the bottles.
According to another feature the plate portion adjacent the blocks comprising grooves for the bottle necks is provided with projecting parts opposite said grooves, the edges of the bottle necks and the corks resting on the said projecting parts when the cases are in vertical position with the bottle necks directed downwards.
According to another feature, the plate portion provided with projecting parts has on the other side notches of the same shape as the projecting parts permitting of the stocking and resting of empty inserts.
Another to another feature, the width of the said grooves is slightly less than the diameter of the necks of the bottles to be held thereby, the material of the insert being plastic.
According to another feature, the diameters of the cylindrical cradles is slightly greater than that of the bottles to be held in the case.
According to another feature, the inner edges of the insert are higher than the lateral edges.
The features of the invention mentioned above as well as others will appear more clearly on reading the following description of one embodiment of the invention, the said description being made in relation to the attached drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a plan view of a case without its lid, said case containing an insert according to the invention; Figure 2 is a view from above of the insert alone; Figure 3 is a view in longitudinal section of the insert of Fig. 2, the section being taken on the line III-III of Fig. 2, the insert being shown holding a bottle; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the insert of Fig. 2, the section being taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2 this view also showing the case; Figure 5 is a partial cross-section of the insert of Fig. 2, the secion being taken on line V-V of Fig. 2, the insert including a bottle;Figure 6 is a partial cross-section of the insert of Fig. 2, the section being taken on line VI-VI of Fig. 2, the insert including a bottle; Figure 7 is a side view of a case including the insert and two bottle; and Figure 8 is a sectional plan of the case with a portion of the insert turned into the display position.
Referring to the drawings, the case has lateral walls 1, 2 and end walls 3,4 as well as a base and a top 45 the case has a shape of a flat parallelepiped rectangle and serves to contain three bottles 5,6,7 of wine in a side by side transport position as shown in Fig. 1 .
The bottles 5,6 and 7 are wedged in this position by an insert acting as a wedging device 8 which is shown alone in Fig. 2, and holding a bottle in Figs. 3,5 and 6.
The device 8 is formed with three semicylindrical cradles 9,10,11 which are arranged with their longitudinal directions parallel and the insert has two integral end plates 12 and 13 disposed transversely to the said longitudinal directions of the cradles 9,10 and 11.
The cylindrical surfaces defining the upper faces of the cradles 9,10 and 11 have their axes 14, 15 and 16 in the same horizontal plane. The partitions 1 7 and 18 between the cradles 11 and 10 on the one hand and cradles 10 and 9 on the other hand are in the same horizontal plane 14-1 5-16. The upper edges of the plates 12 and 13 are likewise level with the plane 14-15-16 except, as will be seen in the following, for projections on the plate 13.
The lower surfaces 19, 20 and 21 of the walls of the cradle 9, 10 and 11 are of a diameter such that their lowest points are level with the bases of the plates 12 and 13, that is to say, they rest on the bottom of the case when the wedging device is placed in it. By way of indication, the height of the wedging device, that is to say, the distance between the bases of plates 12 and 13 on the one hand and the plane 14-15-16 on the other hand is of the order of .55mm; the distance between the axes 14 and 15 or between axes 15 and 16 is of the order of 88.5mm; and the thickness of the walls of the cradles 9,10 and 11 is of the order of 13.5mm. Consequently, the diameters of the upper surfaces of the cradles is of the order of 83mm and that of the lower surfaces of the order of 1 10mm.
The outer edges 22 and 23 of the cradles 9 and 11 are lower than the upper edges of the partitions 17 and 18, and are of a height, for example, of the order of 40mm. In fact, the side bottles 5 and 7 have, in use and in the transport position, their outer sides directly wedged respectively against the lateral walls 1 and 2 of the case.
The thickness of the upper edges of the walls 17 and 18 is of the order of 5.5mm which isolates perfectly the bottles in their respective cradles.
By way of indication, the total length of the wedging device is of the order of 260mm. The thickness of each of the end plates 12 and 13 is of the order of 20mm. By way of indication, the total length of a wedging device is of the order of 343mm.
In the region of the plate 13 as Figs. 2,3 and 6 show in particular the walls of the cradles 9,10 and 11 are modified to form support blocks 24,25 and 26 for the necks of the bottles.
The blocks 24,25 and 26 are identical. The have the general appearance of a parallelepiped emerging from the bottom of the cradle, the upper face having a groove in which the neck of a corresponding bottle is lodged. The grooves 27,28 and 29 are formed respectively in the blocks 24,25 and 26. The vertical planes of symmetry of the grooves pass respectively through the axes 14,15 and 16. The upper edges of the blocks 24 to 26 are level with the upper edges of plates 12 and 13 and partitions 17 and 18. Furthermore, the blocks 24 to 26 are integral with the inner face of the plate 13. The dimensions of each block are, in the longitudinal direction of the cradles, of the order of 35mm and in the transverse direction is of the order of 55mm.
The grooves 27,28 and 29 have in vertical section, as Fig. 6 shows for the groove 29, the form of a semi-circle facing upwards and extended by two vertical faces the spacing of which is obviously equal to the diameter of the semi-circle. In practice, this spacing is selected to be less than the diameter of the necks of the bottles which are intended to be lodged in the cradles. Thus as Fig. 1 shows, the neck 30 of the bottle 7 placed in the cradle 11 is wedged in the groove 29. It will be noted, as Fig. 5 shows, that the diameter of the cylindrical surfaces of the cradles is selected to be greater than that of the bottles, the aforesaid wedging of the neck being sufficient to ensure an almost complete immobility of the bottles.In fact the spacing of the vertical faces of each groove is selected to be less than the anticipated smallest bottle neck diameter which one is liable to meet, the elasticity of the material constituting the wedging device permitting of absorbing the differences of diameters of the bottle necks.
By way of indication, the dimension of this spacing is, in the embodiment described, of the order of 31 mm.
The upper edge of the plate 13 has projecting parts 31, 32 and 33 of semi-cylindrical form, the thickness of each of which is that of the plate 1 3 and the diameter of each of which is equal to the spacing between the vertical faces of the grooves. The projecting parts 31 to 33 have their vertical planes of symmetry passing respectively through the centres 14 to 16. In practice, these parts 31 to 33 serve as abutments for the bottles when the cases lie vertically and upside down as the edges of the necks and the corks 34 of the bottles then rest on the adjacent surfaces of 31 to 33. It is certain that in this vertical position the abutments 31 to 33 constitute good seating for the bottles which is important when it is known that the bottles must preferably be transported in this position to avoid the even partial drying of the bottle corks.
In the base of the plate 13 opposite the abutments 31 to 33 are provided hollow parts 35 to 37 which are also semi-circular and of equal diameter except with the necessary play. These hollows permit of sticking a plurality of wedging devices one on the other before using them in cases, the parts 31 to 33 of a lower device from engaging the hollows 35 to 37 of the device immediately above.
The wedging device described above may be manufactured by moulding and may be of polyurethane foam or other suitable mouldable material. It is to be noted that to avoid the use of too great a quantity of material for the blocks 24 to 26 downwardly, open cavities may be provided in these latter.
It is to be noted also that under the edges 22 and 23 are provided partitions 38 and 39 in order to support the edges 22 and 23.
At a distance from the outer face of the plate 12, equal to the distance between the outer faces of the partitions 38 and 39, that is to say, equal to the distance between the inner faces of the walls 1 and 2 of the case there is provided in the wedging device a slit 40 the bottom of which has the profile as indicated by the line 41, Fig. 4. This slit 40 defines a line of weakening or a fracture line which permits of breaking the wedging device into two parts, a first which supports the bodies of the bottles and which comprises the plate 12 and the larger part of cradles 9,10 and 11 and a second part which supports the necks and comprises the plate 13 and the blocks 24 to 26. The slit 40, having the base profile in the form of three successive semicircles, is obtained directly during the moulding.
In addition, in a longitudinal wall of the case, for example, in the wall 2, as Fig. 1, 7 and 8 show, are provided circular openings 42 and 44.
It is to be noted also that the use, as Fig. 4 shows, is completed by a sliding lid 45 which in the closed position is spaced slightly from the bodies of the bottles.
In Fig. 1 the case is shown full and in a transporting or stocking position at a merchants. In Fig. 8, the case is shown in the cellar position at a consumer. To pass from one position to the other the consumer who has purchased a case opens this latter by pulling the sliding lid 45 open. He then pulls the bottles 5 to 7 from the wedging device 8 and then pulls the device 8 from the case and breaks it into said two parts along the breakage line created by the slit 40.He then places in the case the part of the device 8 comprising the plate 12 and the cradles 9,10 and 11 after having turned this part 90[deg] so that the plate 12 is applied onto the inside of wall 1 of the case and positioning it so that the cradles 9,10 and 11 are in register with the openings 42,43 and 44 of the wall 2 and finally he inserts the bottles into their cradles by passing the bottle bases first through openings 42,43 and 44, as shown in Fig. 8.
It will be appreciated that in the Fig. 8 position the bottles are disposed in the ideal position for keeping and being directly accessible.
The diameter of the openings 42 and 44 is slightly greater than the diameter of the cradles 9 to 11 so that in passing bottles through said openings they are not subjected to forces liable to damage the dressing (labels) of the bottles. However, said diameters are limited so as to leave between them a gap sufficient to ensure the solidity of the lateral wall 2.
In practice, the case is made of pine wood.
That is why the lid 45 is preferably reinforced by two crosspieces 46 each about 50mm wide and 10mm thick the ends of the crosspieces being supported on the upper edges of the walls 1 and 2 as Fig. 4 shows. These cross-pieces 46 permit of stocking the cases on one another without the lids being deformed or damaged.