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WO2025117670A1 - Porte-contenants - Google Patents

Porte-contenants Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2025117670A1
WO2025117670A1 PCT/US2024/057655 US2024057655W WO2025117670A1 WO 2025117670 A1 WO2025117670 A1 WO 2025117670A1 US 2024057655 W US2024057655 W US 2024057655W WO 2025117670 A1 WO2025117670 A1 WO 2025117670A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
container
aperture
carrier
container receiving
container carrier
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
PCT/US2024/057655
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Kayla E. BARRETO
Christopher J. Samaras
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Illinois Tool Works Inc
Original Assignee
Illinois Tool Works Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US18/960,969 external-priority patent/US20250178811A1/en
Application filed by Illinois Tool Works Inc filed Critical Illinois Tool Works Inc
Publication of WO2025117670A1 publication Critical patent/WO2025117670A1/fr
Pending legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

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
    • B65D71/50—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
    • B65D71/504—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 the element being formed from a flexible sheet provided with slits or apertures intended to be stretched over the articles and adapt to the shape of the article

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to beverage multipacks and, more particularly, to multipacks made up of a plurality of containers.
  • Conventional container carriers are often used to unitize a plurality of similarly sized containers, such as cans, bottles, jars and boxes and/or similar containers that require unitization.
  • Flexible plastic ring carriers and paperboard boxes are two such conventional container carriers.
  • Conventional flexible ring carriers include multi-packaging devices that engage the chime, rim or rib around the upper portion of the container, called “rim-applied carriers” or “RAC carriers.”
  • rim-applied carriers or “RAC carriers.”
  • SAC carriers sidewall-applied carrier
  • the multi -packaging device engages the sidewall of the containers.
  • Conventional carriers are arranged in aligned arrays of longitudinal rows and transverse ranks of container receiving apertures.
  • a common arrangement is two rows of three ranks of longitudinally and transversely aligned container receiving apertures forming six total container receiving apertures and a “six-pack.”
  • Other common configurations include two rows of four ranks forming an eight container multipackage and three rows of four ranks forming a twelve container multipackage.
  • Flexible carriers are applied to containers by stretching the carrier around the diameter of the container, and allowing the stretched carrier to recover, providing a tight fit.
  • the carrier is typically applied to the chime or rib, where this structure exists, or to the main sidewall.
  • a first common mode of failure occurs if the container engaging portion of the carrier is stretched too much during application. As a result, the carrier may stretch beyond its yield strength and not adequately recover, a condition also called “neck down,” leading to package failure. However, if the aperture is too large and the container engaging portion is not stretched enough, it may not develop enough tension to adequately engage the container, leading to package failure.
  • Recent flexible carriers have incorporated post-consumer recycled (PCR) material and/or other material and/or additives that lower the environmental burden resulting from disposal. Such material and/or additives may affect the ability of a carrier to recover following exposure to heat cycles, particularly high heat conditions. As such, a need exists to design a flexible carrier that permits a firm engagement of the individual container engagement apertures with the respective containers following exposure to elevated or reduced temperatures from ambient.
  • PCR post-consumer recycled
  • the invention generally relates to a container carrier for unitizing a plurality of containers into a multipack.
  • the subject container carrier preferably includes a geometry that remains locked under the chime of a container, such as a can, to maintain package integrity through varying temperature ranges.
  • the subject container carrier for unitizing a plurality of containers preferably includes a plurality of outer bands and inner bands forming an array of container receiving apertures arranged in two or more transverse pairs.
  • Each outer band of the plurality of outer bands preferably forms a convex container engaging portion of each container receiving aperture.
  • Each inner band of the plurality of inner bands preferably forms a concave container engaging portion of each container receiving aperture.
  • a central grasping aperture is preferably positioned between each transverse pair of container receiving apertures and includes opposite radiused ends and a pair of radiused finger holds extending along each side.
  • An oblong stress relief cutout is preferably positioned along each inner band between each container receiving aperture and each central grasping aperture.
  • the resulting geometry enables a rim applied carrier that is resistant to failure due to large temperature swings from ambient. This resistance is created in part by the features between each aperture pair that provide a consistent pathway for even stress distribution while the carrier is stretched for application.
  • the particular radius arrangement isolates forces exerted while lifting the package through the central grasping aperture.
  • FIG. 1 shows a top plan view of a container carrier according to one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 shows a side view of a multipackage formed by a container carrier according to one embodiment of the invention.
  • the present invention provides a container carrier 10 to unitize a plurality of containers into beverage multipacks.
  • the container carrier 10 according to this invention is shown in Figs. 1-2.
  • Fig. 1 shows a container carrier according to an embodiment having ten container receiving openings and
  • Fig. 2 shows a completed multipack featuring a unitized plurality of six containers.
  • the flexible sheet 20 used to form the flexible carrier 10 is desirably a polymeric or plastic sheet, which can be formed by an extrusion process and then stamped or cut to form the container carrier 10.
  • the flexible sheet 20 preferably comprises a thickness which provides sufficient structural integrity to carry a desired number of containers.
  • each container carrier 10 may be designed to carry two, four, six, eight, ten or twelve containers of a desired product having a specific weight, volume, shape and size.
  • the flexible sheet 20 may have a thickness of about 3-50 mils, suitably about 5-30 mils, commonly about 10-20 mils.
  • the flexible sheet 20 used to form the container carrier 10 is formed using a polymer composition that preferably includes a high-pressure low density polyethylene polymer. Often, this polyethylene polymer is blended with post-consumer recycled (PCR) material and/or other additives or blends to extrude the flexible sheet 20 used in the finished container carrier 10.
  • PCR post-consumer recycled
  • Such a composition preferably provides a container carrier with satisfactory recovery after stretch, desired elongation and strength at application, and resistance to tearing when the carrier is notched or scratched, however, these factors may be affected by the PCR content of the flexible sheet 20 versus virgin polyethylene polymer alone.
  • the container carrier 10 generally include a plurality of container receiving apertures 25 that are each stretched around container 50 to form a unitized package 15 of containers 50, such as shown in Fig. 2. As described, portions of the container carrier 10 are stretched a sufficient amount to permit a tight, gripping engagement with containers 50. This tight, gripping engagement also preferably maximizes the amount of material of the container carrier 10 positioned in the vertical plane, i.e., in contact with the sidewalls of containers 50. [0019] Fig. 1 illustrates one structure for the container carrier 10 of the present invention for forming a package of ten containers. The illustrations are exemplary, and the invention is not limited to the flexible carriers 10 or packages shown.
  • Each container carrier 10 preferably includes the flexible sheet 20 having a plurality of bands defining a plurality of container receiving apertures 25, each for receiving a container 50.
  • the flexible sheet 20 includes bands or rings of material, termed container receiving portions 30, 32, that surround each container receiving aperture 25. Such container receiving portions 30 stretchingly engage or grip the respective containers to form a unitized package of containers 50.
  • Fig. 2 shows a unitized package of six containers utilizing the subject container carrier 10.
  • the container carrier 10 preferably includes a plurality of outer bands 35 and inner bands 40 forming an array of container receiving apertures 25 arranged in two or more transverse pairs.
  • Each outer band 35 of the plurality of outer bands 35 preferably forms a convex container engaging portion 30 of each container receiving aperture 25.
  • These convex container engaging portions 30 are located along an outer periphery of the container carrier 10, as shown in Fig. 1.
  • Each inner band 40 of the plurality of inner bands 40 preferably forms a concave container engaging portion 32 of each container receiving aperture 25. These concave container engaging portions 32 are preferably located through a central area of the container carrier 10, as shown in Fig. 1. As a result of the outer band 35 and inner band 40 configurations, each container receiving aperture 35 preferably includes one convex edge and two concave edges.
  • a central grasping aperture 60 is preferably positioned between each transverse pair of container receiving apertures 25. The central grasping aperture 60 preferably includes opposite radiused ends and a pair of radiused finger holds extending along each side.
  • An oblong stress relief cutout 70 is preferably positioned along each inner band 40 between each container receiving aperture 25 and each central grasping aperture 60. In this manner, two stress relief cutouts 70 are positioned relative to each container receiving aperture 25 along the concave edges of the container engaging portions 32.
  • the stress relief cutouts 70 thus include an outer edge that follows a contour of the concave container engaging portion 32. Further, the stress relief cutouts 70 preferably also include an inner edge that is generally linear.
  • a finger aperture 80 is positioned within the inner bands 40 on each side the central grasping aperture 60.
  • the finger aperture 80 is pear shaped and preferably includes opposing radiused ends. The opposing radii of different sizes are preferably arranged such that a larger radius is positioned on a side facing the central grasping aperture 60.
  • each container receiving aperture is engaged with a chime of a can to create the final unitized package.
  • the resulting geometry enables a rim applied carrier that is resistant to failure due to large temperature swings from ambient. This resistance is created in part by the features between each aperture pair that provide a consistent pathway for even stress distribution while the carrier is stretched for application. In addition, the particular radius arrangement isolates forces exerted while lifting the package through the central grasping aperture thus maintaining a firm grip on containers within the unitized package.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Packages (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un porte-contenants (10) pour unifier une pluralité de contenants (50), qui comprend une pluralité de bandes externes (35) et de bandes internes (40) formant un réseau d'ouvertures de réception de contenant (25) agencées en au moins deux paires transversales. Chaque bande externe de la pluralité de bandes externes forme une partie de mise en prise de contenant convexe (30) de chaque ouverture de réception de contenant. Chaque bande interne de la pluralité de bandes internes forme une partie de mise en prise de contenant concave (32) de chaque ouverture de réception de contenant. Une ouverture de préhension centrale (60) est positionnée entre chaque paire transversale d'ouvertures de réception de contenant et comprend des extrémités arrondies opposées et une paire de prises de doigt arrondies s'étendant le long de chaque côté. Une découpe de relâchement de contrainte oblongue (70) est positionnée le long de chaque bande interne entre chaque ouverture de réception de contenant et chaque ouverture de préhension centrale. La géométrie résultante permet un dispositif de port appliqué sur les bords qui est résistant à une rupture due à des écarts de température importants par rapport à la température ambiante.
PCT/US2024/057655 2023-11-30 2024-11-27 Porte-contenants Pending WO2025117670A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US202363604488P 2023-11-30 2023-11-30
US63/604,488 2023-11-30
US18/960,969 2024-11-26
US18/960,969 US20250178811A1 (en) 2023-11-30 2024-11-26 Container carrier

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2025117670A1 true WO2025117670A1 (fr) 2025-06-05

Family

ID=94321355

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2024/057655 Pending WO2025117670A1 (fr) 2023-11-30 2024-11-27 Porte-contenants

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2025117670A1 (fr)

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5511656A (en) * 1994-08-18 1996-04-30 Illinois Tool Works Inc. Carrier stock having finger-gripping straps curved inwardly toward each other
US20140262857A1 (en) * 2013-03-13 2014-09-18 Robert C. Olsen Container carrier

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5511656A (en) * 1994-08-18 1996-04-30 Illinois Tool Works Inc. Carrier stock having finger-gripping straps curved inwardly toward each other
US20140262857A1 (en) * 2013-03-13 2014-09-18 Robert C. Olsen Container carrier

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