GB2296483A - Carrying bottles and like containers - Google Patents

Abstract

A carrier device for transporting two or more containers each having a neck and an annular downwardly projecting shoulder comprises a base 8 having two or more neck receiving apertures 4, two side walls 28a, 28b extending towards each other from opposite sides of the base 8 and a closure aperture 5 for each container in each side wall 28a, 28b. In use, the annular shoulders of the containers protrude beyond the lower edges 42 of opposing closure apertures and the closures of the containers abut against opposing side edges of each closure aperture whereby the container closures are firmly gripped. A handle less flat topped version and a 4 x 4 version are also disclosed. The opposite side walls may join at a fold in the sheet material of the carrier, with a single aperture bridging the fold to form a pair of the opposing closure apentures. <IMAGE>

Description

DEVICE FOR CARRYING BOTTLES. CANS AND LIKE CONTAINERS This invention relates to a device for carrying bottles, cans and the like containers.

It is known, nowadays, to sell a plurality of bottles or cans packaged in a wrap-around sleeve. For example, it is common practice to sell bottles and cans in multi-packs contained within a complete wrap-around cardboard sleeve. The top of the sleeve may have holes therein, through which the bottle necks or tops of the can protrude. Alternatively, multipacks are placed in a cardboard tray structure and shrink-wrapped.

Bottle carrying devices have also been proposed which hold the bottles around their necks only. These known bottle carrying devices take advantage of the fact that bottles generally have an annular downwardly facing shoulder, either provided by the lower edge of the bottle closure or provided by means of an annular flange encircling the bottle neck, which can engage with an edge of the bottle carrier so that the bottles are suspended from the carrier. Currently available bottle carriers which suspend the bottles from their neck regions tend to hold the bottles fairly loosely and enable them to swing with respect to the carrier with the consequent risk of them falling out of the carrier.

The present invention provides a carrier device for transporting two or more containers each having an annular shoulder projecting from a neck portion and a closure extending from the shoulder, the carrier device being formed from rigid sheet material and comprising: a base having two or more neck-receiving apertures for receiving the respective neck portions of the containers, two side walls extending towards each other from opposite sides of the base and a closure-aperture for each container in each side wall through which the closures protrude in use, the closure apertures being shaped such that in use the annular shoulders of the containers protrude beyond the edges of opposing closure apertures and the closures of the containers abut against opposing edges of each closure aperture.

Known carrying devices of this general type have relatively wide closure apertures which, in use, are spaced from the bottle closures. By reason of the abutment of the container closures against opposing edges of the closure apertures according to this invention, the bottle closures are firmly held reducing the likelihood of the bottles "swinging" with respect to the carrier.

As noted above, many currently available bottles are provided with an annular flange surrounding the bottle neck which provides a downwardly facing shoulder. Other bottles generally have a closure whose lower edge provides an annular shoulder projecting from the neck region of the bottle.

The base and side walls may form a triangular prism.

Preferably, the height of the prism is at least as great as the distance from the base of the container shoulder to the top of the container closure. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the opposite side walls are joined at a fold in the sheet material and the closure apertures in opposite side walls are formed as a single aperture extending from one side wall to the other. The single apertures may include inwardly projecting portions which extend over the container closures in use. This embodiment of the invention can be made from a single sheet of material folded and joined at the junction of the base and one side wall.

The carrier device may be provided with handle portions extending from the side walls. A triangular device with handle portions may be formed from a single sheet having the handle portions joined together.

An alternative to the triangular configuration includes a cover extending parallel to the base having portions which cover the container closures.

The invention also provides a carrier device for transporting four or more containers each having an annular shoulder projecting from a neck portion and a closure extending from the shoulder. This device comprises two of the carrier devices described above, joined together. The two carrier devices may be joined at their respective bases. In one advantageous arrangement, the bases of the two carrier devices are formed from a continuous sheet of material.

Finger-grip means may be provided between the two devices. The finger-grip means may comprise one or more apertures formed in a portion of material extending between the bases.

The invention also provides a flat blank for forming any of the carrier devices described above. Any of the devices according to the present invention may be made from cardboard. In contrast to some known devices, the cardboard (or other suitable rigid sheet material) is sufficiently thick that the side walls, even in the regions below the closure apertures, are single-ply.

Certain embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is top plan view of a blank of a first carrying device according to the invention suitable for carrying four bottles; FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a similar blank to Figure 1, for carrying two bottles, in its erect configuration; FIGURE 3 is a partial front view illustrating the device of Figure 2 containing a bottle; FIGURE 4 is an end view taken in the direction of arrow X shown in Figure 3; FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a blank of a further alternative carrying device according to the invention, suitable for carrying three bottles; FIGURE 6 is a plan view of a blank of a further alternative carrying device according to the invention, suitable for carrying four bottles in two rows of two; and FIGURE 7 is a perspective view showing the blank of Figure 6 in its erect configuration.

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of a blank of a further alternative carrying device according to the invention, suitable for carrying four bottles in two rows of two; and FIGURE 9 is a perspective view showing the blank of Figure 8 in its erect configuration.

Figures 1 to 4 illustrate a preferred device in accordance with the present invention, which is substantially triangular in cross-section. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the features described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 may be present in a device of various different shapes.

The device of Figures 1 to 4 has a support structure and a handle structure, but it will be appreciated that the handle structure is not an essential feature of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows an illustrative blank 10 of a carrying device according to the present invention. The blank includes a central panel which forms the device base or bottom face 8.

The face 8 contains a number (in this case four) of substantially circular holes or apertures 4 for receiving bottle necks. Fold lines 6a and 6b become the edges of the bottom face 8 when the blank is folded to form the device.

Panels 10a and 1Ob, joined to the bottom face by fold lines 6a and 6b, form the side walls of the support structure when it is folded into shape. Each of panels 10a and 1Ob has four apertures 5 which are shaped so that the holes or apertures 5 contour the shape of the bottle closures. The holes 5 shown in Figures 1 and 2 are substantially square or trapeziform in shape, but it will be appreciated that the shape of the holes 5 will be dependent upon the shape of the closure of the containers to be held in the device. The holes 4, which will be located in the bottom face 8 when the blank is folded, and the holes 5 formed in panels 1Oa and 1Ob which will form the side walls when the blank is folded, are in alignment.

Fold lines 12a and 12b form the upper edges of panels 1Oa and 1Ob and meet when the device is assembled, so that the carrying device has a substantially triangular cross-section (see Figure 2). The device further includes panels 14a and 14b which join panels 10a and 1Ob along fold lines 12a and 12b. Panels 14a and 14b may be fastened together, for example by gluing, thereby to secure the device blank to form the device of the invention.

Panels 14a and 14b, when secured together, form the handle structure of the device. Handle portions 16a,16b may be cut out.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, panels 14a and 14b are omitted and instead a small overlap panel is provided along edge 12a or 12b. The overlap panel is folded over (or under) the opposite edge and fastened when the device is assembled, so that the carrying device does not have a separate handle structure.

The assembled blank may be supplied folded in half on itself along fold line 18, for ease of transport and subsequent application to bottles.

Figure 2 shows a carrying device 20 of the invention, suitable for carrying two bottles or cans. Like parts in Figures 1 and 2 are indicated by like reference numerals. The device of Figure 2 is substantially triangular in crosssection having an outwardly projecting handle structure 24.

A hole 26 may be cut out of the handle structure to form a convenient handle. Alternatively the device may have any type of handle attached to the apex of the triangular shaped structure.

The device 20 comprises a bottom face 8, and has two angled side walls 28a,28b which meet along fold lines 12a,12b.

It will be seen that the bottom face 8 of the device 20 has one or more substantially circular apertures. Only one hole 4 is visible in Figure 2. The side walls 28a,28b each have one or more apertures 5 shaped so that the apertures contour the shape of the closure of the bottle or can; two substantially square or trapeziform apertures 5 are shown in the device illustrated in this Figure, and there will be two opposing apertures in side walls 28b, so that this embodiment is designed to hold only two bottles or cans.

It will be realised that the exact location of the holes in the side wall is variable, so that the holes 5 in side walls 28a,28b do not need to extend to the very top of the side wall, as illustrated in Figure 2. They could be centrally located in the side walls, for example.

Figure 2 illustrates a particularly preferred handle arrangement. It will be seen from the drawing that a section 31 may be cut out, in part, from the handle structure 24 of the device to create a hole 26 which can serve as a convenient handle. However, the section 31 remains attached to structure 24. In this way, when a person picks up the carrying device and slides their fingers through hole 26, thereby moving section 31 aside, the handle is comfortable, as there is no sharp edge to cut into the person's fingers.

It is not convenient to have a vertically extending handle structure, however, if the carrying device of the invention is to be shrink-wrapped with the bottles or cans suspended therefrom.

If the device is to be shrink-wrapped, the handle structure 24 is preferably folded over so that it lies parallel with one of the side walls 28a,28b.

The handle structure 24 may be folded over and fastened to one of the side walls 28a,28b by a cold adhesive, so that the seal is very weak. When the handle is lifted up, the seal readily breaks, to provide the handle structure 24 shown in Figure 2. If the handle structure is fastened to one of the side walls in this way, holes corresponding to the holes 5 in side walls 28a,28b will need to be cut in handle structure 24, so that the closures of cans or bottles can still be located and held within the support structure 22. Alternatively, the handle structure 24 may be folded over and spot glued to the closure of the can or bottle, e.g. the bottle cap, using a cold adhesive so that the handle structure is retained in a folded position. When the handle is lifted up, it will be readily released.

The device of the present invention is designed to receive and hold one or more bottles, cans or the like in a manner which will become understood with reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings. The drawings show the device of the invention holding a bottle, but it will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the device may hold various containers in a similar way.

A bottle 40 may be held within each set of holes. The illustrated bottle has an outwardly projecting flange 34 on its neck portion providing a downward facing annular shoulder which serves to retain the bottle in the device.

The top of the bottle may be pushed through hole 4 in bottom face 8 of the device 20 (see Figure 2). As the bottle closure is pushed towards the fold lines 12a,12b, the closure causes the sidewalls 28a,28b to bow outwardly until the annular shoulder passes the lower edges 42 of the apertures 5.

At this point, the edges 42 pass under the shoulder, the side walls 28a,28b cease to bow and the bottle top forms a snap-fit in the device.

If the bottle has no flange, the bottom edge of the cap or lid of the bottle 40 may rest on edges 42 (see Figure 2) of holes 5. In this way, the edges 42 of the holes 5 form ledges which engage the cap or flange of the bottle and thereby prevent it from falling out of the device. When the bottom edge of the bottle cap or lid rests on edges 42 of holes 5, the bottle is securely held within the device.

Additionally, the shoulder area 32 of the bottle 40 is located within hole 4 and, more importantly, the closure is firmly gripped by opposing edges of the apertures 5 to reduce the possibility of the bottle being able to "swing" from the carrying device.

In contrast to some known bottle carriers, the present invention enables a greater number of bottles, cans and the like and/or a greater total weight to be carried for the amount of board used. The device of the present invention uses considerably less material than a complete wrap-around or neck-through cardboard sleeve, as previously used to package a number of bottles or cans. Therefore, there will be a costsaving in using the device of the present invention to package bottle or can multipacks.

In addition, the bottles, and cans are held particularly securely within the device. The device of the invention ensures the bottles and cans have enhanced sideways stability, due to their being supported around their cap/neck area and shoulder area. The cap 36 of the bottle 40 is locked in position in holes 5, and also, added stability is achieved due to the shoulder area 32 of the bottle 40 being located within hole 4.

In a most preferred aspect of the invention, the device is provided as a one-piece, flat blank or pre-glued device and can be made of board or any other substrate. Bottles and cans may be hand packed into the device or automatically packed.

It will be understood that the device of the invention may be designed to carry different numbers of bottles, cans and the like. Also, the device may be adapted to carry bottles and cans of many different shapes and sizes, by varying the shape and arrangement of the holes in the support structure of the invention. For example, the device could be specifically profiled for P.E.T. bottles, but it could also then accommodate other bottles, depending on the profile of the bottle in its neck/shoulder area.

It will also be apparent that the carrying device of the invention may also have further features known in the art.

For example, the device could display a bar-code or have hidden E.A.S. tagging for security.

Figure 5 shows a blank for a carrying device without a handle. A first panel 208 forms the base of the device and has three circular holes 204 for receiving the necks of containers. Panel 208 is divided into two equal portions by a fold line 218 whose function will be described below.

Panels 210a and 210b form the side walls of the device and are joined to each other along fold line 212 and to the base panel 208 along fold line 206a. A flap 250 joins the opposite edge of base panel 48 along fold line 206b.

Panels 210a and 210b are provided with three apertures 205 which are symmetrical about the fold line 212. As with the arrangements described previously, the apertures 205 are shaped to closely follow the contours of container closures in use. The apertures 205 include opposing inwardly directed portions 230 at the fold line 212 which extend over the container closures in use. It will be appreciated that these are optional features and could be readily omitted. The blank of Figure 5 is assembled by gluing flap 250 to panel 210b with the fold line 206b aligned with the free edge of panel 210b.

The completed device may be supplied "flat" by folding along the lines 212 and 208, and erected on site. Bottles are inserted into the carrier in the same way as with the devices shown in Figures 1 to 4 whereby downward facing shoulders on the containers (provided by flanges or closures) rest on edges 248 of holes 205.

Figures 6 and 7 show a further carrying device according to the invention designed to carry two rows of two bottles. Figure 6 shows the blank and Figure 7 shows the device in its erect configuration. The device of Figures 6 and 7 may be regarded as two bottle carriers positioned sideby-side and joined by a central portion of material. Thus, the blank includes a first panel 301 which forms, in use, two base portions 302,303 and central portion 304. These portions are indicated by dot-dash lines in Figure 6. The fold lines are indicated as dotted lines.

The two base portions 302,303 each have two circular holes 305 for receiving bottle necks.

Panel 301 is joined by fold line 306a to panel 307a which forms the side wall of a first carrying device. Panel 307a is joined along the fold line 308a to panel 309a which forms a cover of the first carrying device. Panels 309a is joined along the fold line 310a to panel 311a which forms the second side wall of the first carrying device. Panel 311a is joined along fold line 312a to panel 313a which overlies central portion 304 in use. In a similar manner, panel 301 is joined by a fold line 306b along its opposite edge to line 306a to panels 307b,309b,311b and 313b separated by fold lines 308b,310b,312b, which form the second carrying device.

Side wall forming panels 309a,b and 311a,b are provided with apertures 320 which, as in previously described devices, are shaped to follow the contours of container closures. In contrast to previously described embodiments of the invention, the devices include cover panels which lie on top of the container closures and thus the assembled devices are trapeziform in cross-section rather than triangular. The apertures 320 have part-circular edges adjacent the cover panels corresponding to the size of the bottle closures.

Central portion 304 and panels 313a,b have semicircular cut-outs 330 whose function will be described below.

The manner of folding the blank of Figure 6 to form the device of Figure 7 should be clear to those skilled in this art and will not be described in detail herein. Figure 7 is simply intended to illustrate the folding process and the holes are omitted. When the panels 313a,b are brought inwardly to overlie the central portion 304 of panel 301, the remaining panels fall into place. The order of positioning panels 313a and 313b is immaterial. The semi-circular cutouts 330 which are aligned in the erected device can be pushed out of their planes and underneath the completed device to create convenient finger-grip holes. This operation holds together the panels 304,313a and 313b and as a result no gluing is necessary to hold the entire assembly together, although glue may be used if preferred.Once bottles are in place in the device they hold the remaining panels in their desired positions and the entire multi-pack is secure.

It will be appreciated that the cover portion 309a,b could be omitted and the device of Figure 7 could be configured as two triangular devices side-by-side.

Furthermore, the device of Figures 6 and 7 could be extended to carry any number of rows of bottles.

It will also be appreciated that any of the devices of Figures 1 to 5 could include cover portions extending over the container closures.

Figures 8 and 9 illustrate a device similar to that of Figures 6 and 7 in the form of two triangular devices side-by-side, designed to carry two rows of two bottles. This device could likewise be extended to carry more, longer, rows of bottles. Like items in Figures 6 to 9 are indicated by like reference numerals.

In contrast to Figures 6 and 7, the device of Figures 8 and 9 does not include cover panels and instead side wall panels 307a and 307b are joined via fold lines 340a and 340b directly to side wall panels 311a and 311b. A single aperture 350 for each bottle spans fold line 340a or 340b. As with the embodiment of Figure 5, each aperture 350 includes opposing inwardly directed portions centred on the fold line 340a or 340b which extend over a bottle closure in use (these are omitted from Figure 9 for the sake of clarity). The apertures 350 are shaped in the same way as the apertures 205 of Figure 5.

The carrier device is folded in a similar manner to the device of Figures 6 and 7 with the panels 313a,b being brought to overlie central portion 304 of panel 301. Again, no glue is necessary to hold the entire device together once the semicircular cut-outs are folded. The "double triangle" structure makes a particularly strong carrying device.

Claims (15)

CLAIMS:

1. A carrier device for transporting two or more containers each having an annular shoulder projecting from a neck portion and a closure extending from the shoulder, said carrier device being formed from rigid sheet material and comprising: a base having two or more neck-receiving apertures for receiving the respective neck portions of the containers, two side walls extending towards each other from opposite sides of the base and a closure-aperture for each container in each side wall through which the closures protrude in use, the closure apertures being shaped such that in use the annular shoulders of the containers protrude beyond the edges of opposing closure apertures and the closures of the containers abut against opposing edges of each closure aperture.

2. A carrier device as claimed in claim 1 in which the base and side walls form a triangular prism.

3. A carrier device as claimed in claim 2 in which the height of the prism is at least as great as the distance from the container shoulder to the top of the container closure.

4. A carrier device as claimed in claim 2 or 3 in which the opposite side walls are joined at a fold in the material and the closure apertures in opposite side walls are formed as a single aperture extending from one side wall to the other.

5. A carrier device as claimed in claim 4 in which the single apertures include inwardly extending portions which extend over the container closures in use.

6. A carrier device as claimed in claim 1 including a cover extending parallel to the base including portions which cover the container closures.

7. A carrier device as claimed in any preceding claim including handle portions extending from the side walls.

8. A carrier device for transporting four or more containers each having an annular shoulder projecting from a neck portion and a closure extending from the shoulder, the device comprising two carrier devices as claimed in any preceding claim, joined together

9. A carrier device as claimed in claim 8 comprising two carrier devices for two or more containers joined at their respective bases.

10. A carrier device as claimed in claim 9 in which the bases of the two carrier devices are formed from a continuous sheet of material.

11. A carrier device as claimed in claim 8,9 or 10 including finger-grip means between the two devices.

12. A carrier device as claimed in claims 10 and 11 in which the finger-grip means comprise one or more apertures formed in a portion of material extending between the bases.

13. A flat blank for forming a carrier device as claimed in any preceding claim.

14. A carrier device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.

15. A flat blank for a carrier device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.