Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to injection molded plastic open top
single cell bottle or container storage and carrying cases and more particu-
larly to such a case adapted to be stacked with other similar cases in both
a vertically aligned as well as in several criss-cross relationships.
Some prior art plastic storage cases were made with circular con-
cave recesses in the exterior bottom surface of the case underlying the
center of each bottle contained in the case. These concave recesses would
accommodate the bottle tops of an underlying case of bottles onto which a
second similar case was stacked. When the cases containing bottles were
stacked in a vertically aligned manner, on top of one another, the bottle
tops of a case in a lower tier would fit in the recesses of the bottom of
the case in the next adjacent higher tier. Once these cases were so fitted
together, the interaction of the recesses in the case bottom and the bottle
tops served to lock together the cases to prevent their relative horizontal
movement and thereby stabilize the stack.
However, because these recesses in the external surface of the
bottom of the case were directly underneath the center of the bottles in
the case, the cases could only be stacked in a vertically aligned manner.
The cases could not be stacked in an offset, interlocking orientation because
the thickness of the case side walls prevented the tops of bottles on two
side-by-side adjacent cases from fitting into the recesses on the external
side of the bottom of a single upper tier case overlapping the side-by-side
adjacent cases.
Other prior art cases were adapted for criss-cross
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palletizing but generally only :in one fixed yatterll and were difficult to
engage with ancl clisengage from others in the stack, with frequent damage
to the bottles contained therein.
: According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided
a ~litary injectioll molded, plastie, single cell, half-depth, rectangular
beverage case adaptecd for holding a plurality of beverage eontainers either
inclividually or in multi-colltainer carrying p.leks comprising: (a) a pair
of side walls, (b) a pair of end walls integrally formed and intereonneeted
with said side walls, and (c) a bottom integrally formed with and joined
to saicl sidewalls and end walls to form an open top beverage case, (d) an
inner bottom sul)porting network including a rectangular grid integrally
formed with said bottom comprising: (1) a plurality of longitudinal ribs
dlsposed substantially parallel to said sidewalls, (2) a plurality of
transverse ribs disposed substantially parallel to said end walls and inter-
secting said longitudinal ribs, and (3) diagonal ribs cxtending across said
bottom througll sueh intersections to provide a plurality of triangular sub-
divisiolls of said network, (e) the exterior surface of said bottom including:
(1) an integral reetangular grid strueture aligned with the side and end
walls defining a plurality of square seetions, eaeh said square seetion
eontaining a reeessed polygonal planar surfaee having a bevelled peripheral
edge defining a eonstrieting area for eontainer tops on whieh said ease is
adapted for staeking on the eontainers of a similar ease in a plurality of
eriss-eross palletizing arrangements.
In the aeeompanying drawings, whieh illustrate exemplary embodiments
of the present invention:
- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a beverage ease aeeording to the
invention;
I:igure 2 is all end elevation of the beverage ease of Figure l;
I;igure 3 is a bottom plan view of one embodimellt of the invention;
I-igure 4 is a top plan view of the case of Figure 3;
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Fig. 5 is a side elevation in cross-section taken along
lines 5-5 of Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 is an end elevation in cross-section taken along
lines 6-6 of Fig. 4;
5. Fig. 7 is a side elevation in ¢ross-section of several
cases according to the invention containing bottles and stacked
in a criss-cross manner;
Fig. 8 is a side view of several beverage cases according
to the invention stacked in a criss-cross mannex on a pallet;
10. Fig. 9 is a schematic plan view of beverage cases stacked
on a pallet in a 6 x 6 criss-cross relationship;
Fig. 10 is a side elevation of another embodiment having
lifting ribs at the corners;
Fig. 11 is an end elevation of the case of Fig~ 10;
15. Fig. 12 is a top plan view of another emhodiment of the
invention;
Fig. 13 is a bottom plan view of the case of Fig. 12;
Fig. 14 is a section taken along lines 14-14 of Fig. 12;
F~g. 15 is a section taken along lines 15-15 of Fig. 12;
; 20. Fig. 16 is a schematic plan view of cases stacked in a
7 x 7 criss-cross relationship; and
Fig. 17 is a schematic plan view of cases stacked in an
8 x 8 criss-cross relationship.
Referring now to the drawings r and in particular to
25. Figs. 1-6, beverage case 20 has side walls 21 and end walls 22
joined to bottom structure 23. Case 20 is of a size sufficient
to accommodate for example twenty-four half liter bottles. Side
walls 21 are of a height that is at least one half of the height
of the ~o~ttles aaapted to be contained in the case, leaving the
30. upper half and bottle top protruding out of the case ~see Fig. 7)~
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Side walls 21 have external vertical stiffening ribs 24 and
external horizontal stiffening ribs 25 to strengthen the case.
As shown in Fig. 2, end walls 22 are joined to side walls
21 at the corners 26 and to the bottom 23 at edge 27. End walls
5. 22 have the same height as side walls 21. End walls 22 have
external vertical stiffening ribs 28 and external horizontal
stiffening ribs 29 to strengthen the end wall and add rigidity
to the case 20. End walls 22 each have an opening or hand hole
54 which provides manual lifting means for lifting and moving
10. the case.
The details of the case bottom 23 are shown in Fig. 3~
The bottom structure 23 has a plurality of longitudinal ribs 30
on its outer surface 31 including a central longitudinal rib 32
parallel to the longitudinal axis or center line of the case and
15. a pair of longitudinal ribs 30a and 30b on either side of the
central longitudinal rib 32 and substantially parallel thereto.
There are outboard longitudinal strengthening ribs 33 and 34
at the outboard edge 35 of bottom structure 23 as shown~ -
Bottom 23 also includes a plurality of transverse ribs 36
20. on outer surface 31. There is a central transverse rib 37
aligned with the transverse center line of the case and additional
parallel transverse ribs 37a, 37b, 37c, 37d, 37e and 37f disposed
on either side of central transverse rib 37. The longitudinal
and transverse ribs intersect to define a plurality of substan-
25. tially rectangular areas 38 on exterior bottom surface 23~
The longitudinal and transverse ribs 30, 36, respectively,
function to add rigidity and increase the structural strength of
case 20, as well as to facilitate palletizing of the case as
will be explained hereinafter.
30. Each rectangular area 38 contains a bottle top receiving
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recess 39 which is a planar depression in said bottom 23 anddefined at its periphery by a bevelled polygonal edge 40.
Recess 39 is of sufficient size to contact and confine along at
least a portion of its periphery a bottle top having a standard
5. size crown in one of several positions when one case is stacked
upon the tops of bottles contained in another similar half-depth
bottle case.
Recesses 39 contained in rectangular areas 38 immediately
adjacent the central transverse rib 37, have a generally
10. rectangular configuration with rounded corners 41. Said recesses
are disposed substantially equidistant from adjacent transverse
ribs 36 and adjacent longitudinal ribs 30a, 30b.
The recesses 39 not immediately adjacent the transverse
rib 37 along the transverse center line of the case have a right
15. rectangular pentagonal configuration as shown, with rounded
corners 42. The recesses 39 contained in each quadrant not
immediately adjacent central transverse rib 37 are disposed
adjacent the respective outboar!d longitudinal rib and the
respective outboard transverse rib as shown in Fig. 3
20. The recesses 39 having a right rectangular pentagonal
configuration are disposed so that their apices 43 are pointed
inwardly toward the central transverse rib 37 along the
transverse center line of the case.
Bottom structure 23 contains a plurality of drainholes
25. 44 in each rectangle defined by the longitudinal and transverse
ribs. These drainholes 44 allow any liquid to drain from case 20
that accumulates from any broken bottles or otherwise.
On the outer surface 31 of bottom structure 23~ diagonal
ribs 45 radiate for a limited distance from the points of
30. intersection 46 of the longitudinal and transverse ribs. Ribs
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45 are focused radially inwardly toward each recess 39 and are
adapted to provide a sliding surface to assist in engaging and
disengaging bottle tops sliding into or out of each recess 39
during stacking and removal, as does bevelled edge 40~
5. Case 20 has an interior bottom rib network 47 as shown
in Fig. 4. Bottom rib network 47 has a plurality of longitudinal
ribs 48 extending between end walls 22 and a plurality of
transverse ribs 49 extending between side walls 21. A plurality
of diagonal ribs 50 run through the points of intersection 51
10. of longitudinal ribs 48 and transverse ribs 49 and define a
triangular grid throughout the interior bottom of the case~
The longitudinal, transverse and diagonal ribs that make
up the bottom rib network 47 are adapted to engage and support
the bottom of beverage containers, e~g., six packs 52 of the like
15. ~see Fig. 7). As shown in Fig. 4, there is at least one drain-
hole 44 for each triangular area 53.
As shown in Figs~ 4 and 6, end walls 22 are each provided
with a generally rectangular hand hole 54, and below each hand
hole and projecting inwardly from the interior 55 of end wall 22
20. is a generally rectangular boss 56 (see Fig. 41 with a consequent
recess 57 being provided on the exterior surface 58 of end wall
22 (see also Fig. 5). Also provided on end interior surface 55,
on either side of boss 56 are vertical stabilizing ribs 59 which,
together with boss 56 provide stabilizing contact for six packs
25. 52 or other removable container means contained within case 20
in use. Ribs 59 may be extensions of corresponding longitudinal
ribs 48.
The beverage case of the present invention is manufactured
by injection molding from suitable high impact plastic such as
30. styrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc., and the structure,
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such as shown in Fig 1-6, is of unitary one-piece construction
which provides a half-depth open top beverage case of light
weight, durable and long life.
A plurality of beverage cases 20 stacked in a criss-cross
5. manner are shown in Fig. 7. In lower tier 60, two cases 20a
and 20b are stacked end-to-end with the end wall 22a of case 20a
abutting end wall 22b of case 20b. A case 20c is stacked in
straddling fashion on top of the bottles 61a in case 20a and
bolttles 61b in case 20b. Bottle tops 62a and 62b of bottles 61a
10. and 61b, respectively, fit in the recesses 39c of the case 20c.
Thus, the interaction of recesses 39c and bottle tops 62a and
62b prevent relative horizontal movement between cases 20c, 20a
and 2Ob.
Case 20 can be stacked in a crîss-cross manner because of
15. the position and shape of recesses 39A The distance between
top 62b and 62a is greater than between two adjacent bottle tops
62a because of the width of the abutting horizontal reinforcing
ribs 63a and 63b. Because of the abutting reinforcing ribs 63a
and 63b, a case having circular recesses to accommodate bottle
20. tops immediately underlying the bottle in the case could not be
stacked in a criss-cross manner because the tops of the bottles
in the underlying tier of cases would not fit ;n the recesses
under the case straddling two lower cases~
An example of cases 20 of the present invention palletized
25. in a 6 x 6 criss-cross manner is shown in Figse 8 and 9.
A plan schematic view of the palletized stack shown in
Fig. 8 is shown in Fig. 9. The dotted lînes in Fig~ 9 show six
cases 20 on a first tier 64 stacked two abreast and three deep on
a conventional 40" x 48" pallet 65. The solid lines depict an
30. upper tier 66 of cases three abreast and two deep~ When stacked
in this manner, the cases are substantially interlocked and cannot tip over
to cause damage as with a vertically aligned stack of cases which would not
be so interlocked and stabilized.
The embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1-7 is particularly
adapted for use with Z~ one-half liter Shasta bottles, either placed individ-
ually in the case or in six or eight packs. The particular configuration of
recesses 39 permits aligned vertical stacking or palletizing, or more prefer-
ably 6 x 6 criss-cross stacking.
Referring now to Figures 10-15, another embodiment of the invention
is shown which is particularly adap~ed to contain four six bottle packs or
three eight bottle packs of 16 ounce bottles of, for example, soft drinks or,
with minor overall dimensional changes, the same number of packages of one-
half liter bottles. The principles and materials of construction are
essentially the same as for the prior described embodiment, one of the chief
differences being the shape of the bottom polygonal recesses 39 and their
disposition relative to the longitudinal and transverse ribs 30, 37 respec-
tively. Other additional features will be described below.
As shown in Figures 10 and 11, side walls 21 and end walls 22 are
substantially identical with the case depicted in Figures 1-6 with one
notable exception. At the four corners 67 of case 20, and extending there-
around are a plurality of substantially parallel lifting ribs or flanges 68
disposed in spaced vertical relation with one another and bottom rim 69 and
coextensive with the latter in distance of projection outwardly from side
wall 21 and end wall 22. These flanges or ribs 68 facilitate de-stacking
by coming into contact with roller means on a spring mounted platform
(not shown) whereby the contacted case is lifted or
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tilted upwardly to permit the arms of a forklift truck to slide
under the case for removal from the pallet.
The outer surface 31 of case bottom 23 is shown in
Fig. 13. Longitudinal and transverse ribs 30, 37 divide the
5. bottom into a plurality of similar rectangular areas 38. Disposed
within areas 38 are polygonal recesses 39 which are of irregular
hexagonal shape with bevelled edges 40. Drainage holes 44 are
also provided in bottom 23 and radially extending diagonal
ribs 45 are provided at intersections 46.
10. The irregular hexagonal recesses 39 permit 6 x 6, 7 x 7
and 8 x 8 stacking of 24 sixteen ounce or half-liter bottles.
7 x 7 stacking is shown schematically in Fig. 16 and 8 x 8
stacking is shown schematically in Fig. 17.
As shown in Fig. 12, an interior bottom rib network 47
15. is provided which is substantially identical with that of the
embodiment first discussed in connection with Figs~ 1~6~
~- Longikudinal, transvexse and diagonal ribs 48, 49, 50 respectively
divided the interior bottom of the case 20 into a plurality of
triangular areas 53, each with at least one drainhole 44.
20. Hand holes 54 are provided in end walls 22 and stabilizing bosses
56 and vertical stabilizing ribs 59 are likewise included~
As shown in Fig. 14, pairs of vertical stabilizing ribs
70 are provided on inner surface 71 of side walls 21, each pair
straddling a respective one of said transverse ribs 49 (see also
25. Fig. 12). These ribs 70 are particularly adapted to prevent
breakage of individual empty bottles when being returned in said
case 20 for recycling.
While specific dimensions of cases constructed in accord-
ance with the herein described invention may vary as desired,
30. it is usually preferable to have a length to width ratio of
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3 to 2, and the other design parameters adjusted so that the
cases can be appropriately stacked on a standard 40" x 48"
pallet.
While certain embodiments of the invention have been
5. shown and described herein, it is to be understood that other
changes and additions may be made by those skilled in this art
without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
