CA2037694A1 - Containers - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A modular, thermoplastic, multi-bottle container having a grid-like network of a plurality of circular protrusions in the bottom of the container, each of which protrusions can fit within a recess in the base of a bottle to keep the bottle upright. The base of the container on its outside has a plurality of recesses defined by the protrusions and which can retain the tops of bottles stored in a lower identical container when the height of the container is such as to allow of such retention, when the containers are stacked one upon another. Between the grid-like network of the recesses is a grid-like network of channels of a width not less than two times the width of the endwalls and sidewalls. The containers are stackable in an interlocking manner by the channels receiving up to two of the peripheries of the sidewalls or endwalls of lower containers. This provides additional stability. The bottles in a lower container can provide support to the base of an upper container, when stacked. The container is reusable and recyclable.

Description

CONTAINERS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to containers and more particularly, to thermoplastic rectangular containers for holding a plurality of bottles, cans and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Containers, cartons, cases and the like for holding selected multiples of bottles are known. For instance, containers which conveniently hold 6, 12, 18 or 24 bottles of alcoholic beverages or soft drinks are well-known.
These multi-unit "packs" are invariably rectangular shaped, flat-based containers, openable at the top, optionally, provided with handles and formed of cardboard. Although the individual cardboard container provides convenience to the final customer in the transportation and storage of both full and empty bottles, the cardboard container constitutes a non-reuseable, disposable item. This creates an environmentally unsound disposal problem, even though part of the cardboard may be recyclable through a re-pulping treatment.
However, should a recyclable and fully reuseable container substitute be desired, regard must be had to, inter alia, the economics of manufacture, storage and transportation, and the appeal and acceptance by the consumer and industry.
_ MMARY OF ~HE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reuseable and recyclable multi-unit modular container.

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It is another object to provide a multi-unit modular container which provides improved stackability and stability when a plurality of the containers are stacked in an interlocking manner.
Accordingly, the invention provides a modular, rectangular bottle container, stackable upon an identical container, comprising a base having an inner side, an outer side and a periphery; sidewalls having upper peripheries; and endwalls having upper peripheries; wherein said base on said inner side has a grid-like network of a plurality of substantially circular protrusions, each protrusion adapted to be received by the recess in the base of a bottle and which defines on said outside of said base a substantially circular recess adapted to receive the top of a bottle;
and a plurality of continuous rectangular protrusions along the length and breadth of said base between said circular protrusions and which on said outside of said base define a grid-like network of channels between said circular recesses;
said base periphery of said container and said upper peripheries of said sidewalls and said endwalls of said identical container are of such dimensions and shapes as to allow said base to operably abut said upper peripheries of said sidewalls and said endwalls of said identical container in a stackable, stable arrangement;

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said upper peripheries of said sidewalls and said endwalls having a width that is not greater than one half the width of said channe~s; whereby said channels can operably receive said upper peripheries of one or two sidewalls or endwalls; and wherein said sidewalls and said endwalls have a height to operably allow a bottle to be retained between said circular protrusion of said identical container and said circular recess of said container, when said base operably abuts said upper peripheries of said sidewalls and said endwalls of said identical container.
The open-topped modular container according to the invention is preferably formed of a light weight thermoplastic material, which may, optionally, contain fibreglass to enhance strength and rigidity. The base, sidewalls and endwalls are of sufficient thickness to provide the desired strength and rigidity. However, the invention provides the opportunity of reducing the amount of thermoplastic used in its construction by allowing the base to be of a minimal thickness while utilizing the vertical support provided by the plurality of upright bottles contained in a lower container when the containers are stacked. This is referred to as stack stability. It will be appreciated, of course, that the bottles act only as transient support members for the base of an upper container, i.e. when the upper container rests on a lower, bottle containing container.
Further, by means of the upstanding protrusions in the base of the container providing lateral guidance to the bottles, which ,: .

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is enhanced by the retaining recesses of an upper container when containers are stacked, there is no need for full height partitions throughout the inside of the container. Each of the protrusions of the multi-dimpled b3se centers a bottle to the extent that the protrusion prevents sufficient lateral movement of the bottle. This reduces the possibility of the bottles hitting each other when the containers are transported as a multi-container stack. Instead, low profile partitions may be used.
The container, preferably, has integrally formed corner strengthening members to enhance rigidity. Such corner members may be so shaped as to also provide gripping points for robotic handling.
A valuable feature of the containers according to the invention recognizes the need that such containers must be readily stackable and sufficiently stable, when so stacked, as to allow of safe movement of a skid l~ad of stacked containers, for example, by means of a fork-lift truck. This desired result is achieved by providing the base of each container with a grid-like network of ~hannels of sufficient width to receive up to two peripheries of sidewalls or endwalls. This enables the peripheries of a sidewall or endwall of two adjacent containers to be received, in part, by the channels of the same upper containsr. ~y having a sufficient number of lower containers adjacently laid out in a rectangular manner, each of a plurality of upper containers :, ~ ' , ..
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may be individually laid in an inter]ocking parallel or perpendicular, modular manner upon the lower containers.
Additional levels of such modular containers may be built up to an acceptably safe height. It will be readily appreciated that the upper peripheries of the sidewalls and endwalls may be embraced by a single channel or a pair of channels adapted to receive in adjacent relationship a pair of upper peripheries. Thus, in this specification and clai~s, the term channel includes a channel that has been divided into several individual segments, which individual segment is adapted to receive a single periphery of a sidewall or endwall.
It is not necessary that all of the modular containers are of the same length and breadth for efficient, safe and convenient stacking. Provided that the width of the peripheries of sidewalls and endwalls and of channels are as defined above, 6, 12, 18 and 24 unit containers may be interlockably stacked by the network arrangement. Although, not preferred, individual 2, 3, and 4 unit packs could be co-stacked with the longer unit packs.
The above stacking arrangement is predicated upon the container sidewalls and endwalls being of a suitable height to allow the bottles to be retained between the protrusions in a lower container and the recesses in an upper container while permitting the peripheries of the sidewalls and endwalls of the lower container, in whole or in part, to abut the periphery of the base of the upper container. For maximum stability, the tops of the bottles in the recesses ~f upper container, should gently abut the base.

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The container according to the invention, optimally ~ay be provided with a detachable cover or lid having the form as hereinabove described for the base of the container. ~hus, the cover has recesses to retain the -tops of the bottles in the container when the periphery of the cover abuts the upper peripheries of the sidewalls and endwalls of the container.
The modular container preferably is provided with handles by which it may be individually carried.
It can thus be seen that the present invention provides recyclable, modular containers for storing and carrying of a plurality of individual bottles.
In those instances where packaging, such as cans, packets and the like, are of such form as to allow of their use in a container as hereinbefore defined then the claims defining the container hereinbelow embrace such use.
The containers are readily stackable and transportable by conventional means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
-In order that the invention may be better understood, a preferred embodi~ent will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly cut-away, of a container according to the invention holding several ~ottles;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the container of Figure 1 along the line 2~2';
Figure 3 shows a schematic view, partly cut-away, of a -staggered stack of containers according to the invention;

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Figures 4,5,6,7 show part schematic sections of alternative embodiments of two containers in abutting relationship;
Figure 8 shows a stack of containers according to the invention on a pallet;
Figure 9 shows a cover for an individual container according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The preferred embodiment will be described, for ease of understanding, with raference also to an identical container wherein identical parts are denoted by the letter "A".
Figure 1 shows a 24-pack, open-topped, rectangular container 10, talso, as an identical container 10A), formed of a thermoplastic material and having a base 12, sidewalls 14 and endwalls 16.
With reference also to Figure 2, base 12 has an inner side 18, an outer side 20 and a periphery 22. Inner side 18 has a grid-like network of a plurality of substantially circular protrusions 24, a total of twenty-fcur in the embodiment shown, which are so individually shaped as to fit within the recess of the base of a bottle 11 storable in container lO.
Protrusion 24 assists in retaining the bottle upright and preventing lateral movement of the b-ase of the bottle.
Between the network of protrusions 24, inner side 18 has a grid-like network of continuous rectangular protrusions 26 along the length and breadth of base 12.

, Outer side 20 of the base has a plurality of substantially circular recesses 28, a total of twenty-four in the embodiment shown, defined by protrusions 24. Each of recesses 2~ is so shaped as to generally retain the top of the bottle so as to restrain it from toppling over, as hereinafter described.
Between recesses 28 is a grid-like network of channels 30 defined by rectangular protrusions 26.
Sidewalls 14 and endwalls 16 have upper peripheries 32, 34, respectively. Each of peripheries 32, 34 is of a width slightly less than one half of the width of channel 30, such that channel 30 can receive up to two of peripheries 32, 34 as hereinafter described.
Peripheries 32, 34 have an internal step 36 capable of receiving in abutting engagement periphery 22 of base 12A of identical container 10A. Peripheries 32, 34 are also of a sufficent thickness to provide protection, as a bumper 38, during handling, filling and transportation. In the embodiment shown, bumper 38 takes the form of an inverted lip. In an analogous manner, base periphery 22 has an upstanding lip 40 to provide protection. The lips may also be used to receive and retain a covering sheet of protective material such as polythylene film.
Sidewalls 14 and endwalls 16 are of a pre-selected height, which is approximately the same height as bottles 11 to be retained in container 10. This allows the bottles to be stored in container 10 when containers 10 and 10A are stacked container 10A upon container 10, such that bottles 11 are ' ' . - , -.: ' ' ' : ' ' ' " ~' g retained over protrusions 24 and their tops within recesses28A. In the embodiment shown, and also in Figures 3 and 4, the height of sidewalls 14 and endwalls 16 are such that bottles 11 provide support to base 12A of container lOA.
Container 10 has corner supports 42, a pair of handles 44 and low profile support partitions 46.
Figure 3 shows a three-tier stack of containers 10 and lOA
wherein two second level containers are in staggered relationships with individual upper and lower containers 10, lOA. It can be seen that adjacent endwalls 16 of the second level containers are adjacent each other, with their respective upper peripheries 34 within a single channel 30 of an upper container.
Figure 4 shows a top of a bottle 11 abutting base 12 of upper container 10; whereas Figure 5 shows top of bottle 11 retained within recess 28 but not providing maximum support to base 12 of upper container 10.
Figures 6 and 7 show alternative mating relationships of abutting peripheries 22 and 34.
A stack of interlocking modular containers 10, lOA are shown in Figure 8 on a pallet 48. It can readily be seen that the containers may be laid one on top of the other, in a staggered manner, not only parallel, but preferably, in alternatively parallel and perpendicular arrangement.
Separate cover 50 shown in Figure 9, for use with an individual container has a base 52 of similar form as the outer side of base 12 of container 10, lOA. It has, thus, the - ~ ` ; ', :
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requisite number of recesses 28 as the ma~imum number of bottles 11 to be held in container 10, and, optionally, channels 30, should there be a reason for large cover 50 to cover, in whole or in part, more than one container.

Claims (5)

1. A modular, rectangular bottle container, stackable upon an identical container, comprising a base having an inner side, an outer side and a periphery; sidewalls having upper peripheries; and endwalls having upper peripheries; wherein said base on said inner side has a grid-like network of a plurality of substantially circular protrusions, each protrusion adapted to be received by the recess in the base of a bottle and which defines on said outside of said base a substantially circular recess adapted to receive the top of a bottle; and a plurality of continuous rectangular protrusions along the length and breadth of said base between said circular protrusions and which on said outside of said base define a grid-like network of channels between said circular recesses;
said base periphery of said container and said upper peripheries of said sidewalls and said endwalls of said identical container are of such dimensions and shapes as to allow said base to operably abut said upper peripheries of said sidewalls and said endwalls of said identical container in a stackable, stable arrangement;

said upper peripheries of said sidewalls and said endwalls having a width that is not greater than one half the width of said channels; whereby said channels can operably receive said upper peripheries of one or two sidewalls or endwalls; and wherein said sidewalls and said endwalls have a height to operably allow a bottle to be retained between said circular protrusion of said identical container and said circular recess of said container, when said base operably abuts said upper peripheries of said sidewalls and said endwalls of said identical container.

2. A container as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said peripheries of said sidewalls and endwalls of said identical container have an inner step within said identical container to operably receive said periphery of said base of said container such that said base nests within said container.

3. A container as claimed in Claim 1 wherein each of said endwalls has a recess for use as hand gripping handle means.

4. A container as claimed in Claim 1 having corner support members.

5. A detachable cover for use with a container as claimed in any one of Claim 1 to 4, which cover has a plurality of circular recesses on a lower side so arranged as to operably receive and retain the top of bottles within said container.